In Search of the Kings
by exaenae
Summary: Tetra, one of the world's largest companies, has called up two people, Michael Turner and Emilia Baxter, to help them locate and recover four mysterious energy sources, scattered around the world.
1. The Ticket

**Chapter 1 - The Ticket**

Michael Turner stood in a room on the twentieth floor of a corporate building, looking at his reflection.

"I should get a haircut." - he thought, running his fingers through his long, dark brown hair. He reached into the pocket of his red blazer, took out a small stress ball of the same colour, and started throwing it around in his hands, and occasionally up into the air. At one point, he threw the ball so high that it rebounded off the ceiling, and rolled around the room for a bit before he finally managed to catch it, after which he placed it back in his pocket, and sat down on the couch that faced away from the stunning view of the city, and waited for someone to come through the door. Not soon after, a woman walked into the room, and wasted no time in asking questions.

"Do you know why I'm here?" - she asked.

"For the same reason I am, I presume." - Michael replied.

"And that is?"

"I don't know."

She reached into the inside pocket of her black jacket, and took out an envelope with a company logo on it, containing a small rectangular piece of paper.

"Did you get one of these?" - she waved the letter around. Michael nodded in response.

"They said they require my assistance." - he said, forming air quotes with his hands while saying the latter three words - "But they never explained why."

"So, let me get this right: You receive a letter from Tetra where they don't even tell you what they need, and you just show up, no questions asked?" - she said, then stopped pacing around the room and finally sat on a couch opposite Michael. He nodded again.

"I live a boring life." - he explained his entire reason for being here in five words. Once the woman finally sat down and stopped, he finally managed to look at her. She looked at best a year older than him, so around nineteen or twenty years old. Her emerald-coloured eyes were going back and forth, as she reread the letter to make sure she hadn't missed anything. Her dark blue hair was a bit shorter than Michael's, going down to her shoulders, and was asymmetrical, the left half being slightly longer than the right.

"So, why are you here?" - Michael asked. She finished reading the letter, and looked up at him.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you received the same letter as me. You don't know why they invited you either, yet you're here anyways. So, why?"

"My mom used to work here as a researcher. A year and a half ago, she disappeared while conducting some fieldwork. We never found out what happened to her, and Tetra just sent us a massive cheque, as if that was supposed to fix anything."

"And you're here because…"

"Because I thought this invitation might mean that they'll finally tell me what happened." - she finished the sentence instead of him - "Though I doubt it's going to happen now."

The door behind her opened once again. A man walked in, wearing a suit with a small metallic badge on it in the shape of the company's logo.

"Oh good, you're both here!" - he exclaimed - "I'll try to be as brief as possible, as I'm sure you're both busy."

He sat down on the last remaining couch in the room, and the three of them formed a triangle around a single sad plant.

"Our researchers have recently located the locations of four powerful sources of energy, but we need the help of two duelists to retrieve them. Your help, to be specific."

"Not happening." - the girl replied, as if she knew what to say from the moment the suit walked into the room, then got up from her seat after she made her point, and headed for the door.

"Miss Baxter, I recommend that you cooperate." - the man said. She turned around, and walked back towards him.

"Or what?" - she asked.

"Or we'll find a way to make you cooperate." - the man replied.

"You've already ruined my family's life once." - she leaned forward so that she was now face to face with the man - "Do whatever you want, but I'm not helping you."

She stormed out of the room, slamming the door in the process.

"And, what about you?" - the man turned to Michael, completely ignoring the unpleasant exchange that just took place, disregarding it as a minor inconvenience. Michael paused for a second, trying to process what happened.

"Why do you need a duelist?" - he asked.

"The four locations have doors sealed by some sort of locking mechanism, seemingly only openable via duels, which is why we need someone who's really good, and you fit the bill."

"You're being a bit vague." - Michael noted - "What kind of mechanism is it?"

"That's the thing, we're not sure. We have extremely limited information on it, which is why we need someone like you."

"Why aren't you sending someone from your company? Surely they'd be better suited for the task."

"We did send out a couple of expeditions to the first location in the past year and a half, but both were unsuccessful, which is why we have practically no information regarding the lock."

"So, why her?" - Michael continued with the questions, referring to the girl that stormed out of the room a couple minutes ago - "I realize, sort of, why you need me, but why is she necessary to this plan of yours? Why do you need both of us?"

"At least two people are required so we can conduct the missions effectively." - the man gave a very vague answer.

"So, why can't you just find someone else?" - Michael asked

"We specifically need her."

"Why?"

"That's classified information I'm afraid."

Michael wasn't entirely satisfied with the answer he got, but realized he won't get any information on the mystery girl.

"So, does the plan fall through now that she's given up?"

"Let us worry about that." - the man looked at the watch on his wrist, then got up from the couch and handed Michael a business card.

"Look, we're not expecting a decision right away, so take your time." - he said, highlighting the fact that Michael had enough time to make a decision, despite sounding fairly urgent earlier - "I'm sure you'll make the right decision. Besides, there's a large sum of money involved if you do decide to take us up on the offer."

Michael stood around in the room for a few more minutes, repeatedly squeezing the red stress ball in his pocket, before a secretary walked into the room, and told him that he can, and probably should leave.

* * *

Emilia Baxter exited Tetra's headquarters, and started quickly heading for the city's main train station, as if she wanted to get away from the skyscraper as soon as possible.

"What a waste of time. Then again, I don't know why I thought that anyone working in that place could think about anyone other than themselves for a few minutes. What a bunch of…" - her thought process stopped when she realized she almost crossed a red light and ran into oncoming traffic.

"And now I have a god damn two-hour train ride home as well." - she thought after she successfully crossed the street - "I'm such an idiot. Dad told me not to go, but I didn't listen to him. I thought they might tell me what happened to her, but no, they want me to do them a favour, as if my mom hadn't done enough for them already." - she rolled her eyes and continued arguing with herself, as she swiftly made her way over to the train station.

"I haven't dueled in over five years, I don't know why they even want me." - she entered the train station, walking beneath the grand archway into an echo-filled hall. She walked straight towards the other door, and exited onto the main platform, then pulled out her ticket to check exactly where her train's departing from, turned left, and walked for another minute before finally arriving to the platform, which had no train next to it. Confused, she walked back to the main building, and headed for the information desk.

"Excuse me, why is my train not where it should be?" - she asked.

"Which train line?" - the man behind the desk asked in a drab, monotone voice, and Emilia handed her ticket over to him. He glanced at the ticket, and replied in an equally dull voice.

"That train's been cancelled." - he said.

"Why?"

The clerk briefly paused and looked at Emilia as if she was the first person to ask that question. He got out of his chair, and waddled over to the desks behind him, and asked a couple questions before returning to his work station.

"We're not sure." - he replied, confused - "But I've been told we're working on resolving the delay."

Emilia walked away from the helpdesk as quickly as she arrived to it.

"You're welcome!" - the clerk said, watching her walk off, and looked back at his computer screen.

"What do they even pay these people for?" - she thought, and walked out of the station. The city, which she was so eager to leave, greeted her, as every building in the city centre rocketed to the sky, accompanied by a warm background of a spring sunset, making the whole skyline appear more picturesque than it usually is. She took out her phone in such a rush that she almost dropped it to the floor, and sent her father a text about the train delays, before heading back into the city.

"So, what do I do now?" - she looked at her watch - "There's four hours until the next train leaves, if they even fix the problem until then."

She turned left from the train station, and walked along the city's main street, unsure of where to go. The lights slowly turned on around her, and the streets were filled with people once more as another working day was drawing to a close. After a ten-minute walk, she made the decision to enter one of the nearby bars and think about what she'll do in the next three and a bit hours. She walked up to the counter, ordered a cup of tea, and sat down on one of the stools, at which point a man sitting to her left recognized her.

"Hi." - he said after a sip of coffee - "What a coincidence."

"Oh, it's you." - Emilia didn't sound overly pleased with running into Michael again, and stared directly at a point in front of her instead of looking at him.

"So, you caused Tetra a bit of a problem." - Michael continued.

"Good."

Michael couldn't think of anything else to say, and a couple of minutes of silence followed. Emilia grew tired of the quiet, and despite her initial hesitance, decided to continue the conversation.

"So, did you accept the offer?" - she asked.

"I'm not entirely sold, to be honest." - Michael blurted out as if he was eager to talk, then his speech slowed down.

"Tetra will find a way to make you do whatever they want you to do, believe me." - Emilia remarked.

"Well, it doesn't matter anyways."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, they can't go ahead with the plan now that you've walked out on it."

"Surely, they can get anyone else." - she said, then thanked the waiter as he brought her a cup of tea.

"The guy said that they specifically need you." - Michael explained.

"Why?"

"I asked him the same thing, but apparently, that's _classified information_." - Michael said, forming air quotes with his fingers, and changing his tone of voice to try and mimic the man who said it, but just coming off as silly.

"Everything's classified information to them." - Emilia said, then took a sip of tea - "My mother's disappearance is classified information."

"What happened to your mom anyways?"

"I thought I already told you that, why are you asking again?"

"Because the guy told me that they sent out two expeditions in the last year and a half, so I thought she might have been part of one of them."

"I mean, she might have been." - Emilia said - "She only ever told us she was going to Zambia."

"Why Zambia?"

"I don't know, I don't think she was allowed to say much more."

"And she just… disappeared?"

"Yeah. Tetra kept everything a secret, the news of their failure didn't reach the media, not that I'm surprised, and then they gave us a large sum of money as compensation. We used that money to get out of here as quickly as possible.

"Wait, so you don't live in the city?"

"My family moved to a small mountain village, not that it stopped Tetra from finding us."

"So, why are you here?" - Michael asked as he finished his coffee - "Shouldn't you be on your way home or something?"

"The train's been cancelled, and I have three hours until the next one is supposed to leave."

"What are you going to do until then?"

"I'll manage."

Michael got up, told Emilia to take care, and headed for the exit. He set off on a brisk walk through the busy streets under the night sky. The walk took slightly longer than it usually does, since he had to make his way through massive crowds of people, most of whom were walking the other way, towards the city centre. After fifteen minutes, when he finally arrived at the front door of the building he lived in, he glanced at his apartment, and noticed the light was on.

"I don't remember leaving that on." - he noted, but didn't think much of it. He walked up three flights of stairs to reach his apartment, but something stood out as soon as he opened the door.

"Why are the lights off now?" - he asked himself in a barely audible whisper. He thought that someone might have broken into his apartment, so didn't turn on the lights again, and started sneaking around all the rooms to check if he was right or just paranoid. He looked into the bathroom, which was right in the hallway as he entered the apartment but it was empty. He stealthily continued towards the living room. Not only was it empty, but the white carpet didn't contain any stains to indicate someone had walked over it. The kitchen to the right of the living room also had nobody in it, so the last room to check was Michael's bedroom, which was locked, just as he left it.

"Am I going crazy?" - he mumbled once he made sure nobody entered his apartment while he was gone. He finally turned on the lights again, briefly walked through all the rooms once more to see if anything had been stolen, but everything looked fine on that front as well. Just as he sat down on the couch in front of the TV, he noticed a small envelope sitting on the coffee table in front of it.

"So, I'm not insane." - he thought and went to pick the letter up - "Why would someone break into my apartment to give me a letter?"

He turned the envelope around, and noticed a small Tetra logo in its upper right corner.

"Of course." - he said as he ripped through the surprisingly thick paper to get to the letter - "I guess just delivering things through the mailbox like everyone else does is too inconspicuous for them."

He finally managed to get to the letter after shredding the envelope to pieces, and started reading it.

 _"Dear Mr. Turner_

 _We believe you held a meeting with one of our representatives today. While this letter is not intended to influence your decision, we wanted to inform you that all resources for the mission, should you accept it, have already been prepared. Enclosed in this envelope is a cheque you can choose to withdraw whenever you please, regardless of whether you accept our offer or not. Also attached to this letter is a ticket for a plane leaving in nine days, which is supposed to take you to the location of your first mission. As with the money, you are allowed to use this plane ticket regardless of your decision regarding our offer. For your information, this same letter has been sent to Ms. Baxter, whom we are sure you met today._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Christine Wallach, Tetra public relations_

Michael finished reading the letter, and tossed it aside to look for the two things that were supposed to be attached to it, as he must have missed them at first. He grabbed the shredded envelope, and noticed a small plastic bag containing two pieces of paper in it. It opened fairly easily, and he grabbed the cheque first, stunned at what he saw.

" _Fifteen grand?_ " - he exclaimed in shock - "They're giving me fifteen grand, and I don't even have to do anything. Fantastic."

He carefully put the cheque aside, and grabbed the plane ticket.

"Where do they want to send me?" - he turned the ticket around to look at the destination - "Livingstone via London."

He put the ticket back down, and arranged all the things he received neatly on the table, so they wouldn't get lost later, then took out his phone.

"Where the hell is Livingstone?" - he opened up the map, and typed the city name into the search bar - "They probably don't mean that one." - he said as a Scottish town popped up as the first result. He changed his search to "Livingstone Airport", and a different result immediately came up.

"It's in…" - Michael started saying, but paused to give himself enough time to zoom out and see what country he was in - "…Zambia."

He looked straight ahead, and remembered Emilia saying how her mother was sent to the same country that Tetra now wanted to send them to.

"That can't be a coincidence, right?" - the empty room didn't reply - "It can't be." - he repeated the words one more time for emphasis. It was quite late, so he decided to turn on the TV and stop worrying for now. He got up from the couch and went to the kitchen to get some food, accompanied by the drone of a news reporter he wasn't paying attention to. He grabbed some leftovers from earlier today, then went back into the living room and decided to call it a day.


	2. The Offer

**Chapter 2 - The Offer**

Emilia went to open the front door of her house, careful not to make any noise. It was four in the morning, and most of her household was likely asleep, so she was as quiet as possible in order to not wake any of them up. To her surprise, her dad was actually awake, and sitting in the living room. Even while he was sitting down, it was obvious that her father was a very tall man who, despite only being in his early forties, lost almost all of his hair.

"Your train finally arrived?" - he asked after greeting her.

"Yeah." - she gave a very brief answer - "Why didn't you sleep?"

"I did. I just woke up early. How did the meeting with Tetra go?"

"Don't ask."

"I told you to not go."

"Yeah, I know." - Emilia said, clearly tired, and headed for her room - "From now on, if you see any letters from Tetra, just throw them into the trash or something. I don't care."

Her father nodded, then interrupted Emilia's ascent up the stairs when a thought popped into his head.

"Oh, that reminds me, I found a couple of letters in our mail this morning. They were both addressed to you." - her father pointed to the table where he placed the envelopes. Emilia quickly grabbed them, then headed up the stairs and to her room. She tossed the two letters on the table, deciding she would read them later, then collapsed onto her bed.

She woke up five hours later, the sunshine seeping into her room through half-closed curtains. She got up from her bed, stretched, then headed downstairs. Her father looked like he hadn't moved in the past five hours, still sitting in the same chair he was in when she arrived home. On the other hand, her sister was nowhere to be found.

"She's probably picking up the groceries." - Emilia thought, as she walked into the kitchen. She grabbed an empty glass from an overhead cupboard, quickly poured some water into it, and headed back up to her room to read the letters she had been sent. The first envelope had a Tetra logo on it, so she immediately tossed it aside, then looked at the other letter. It was much more peculiar, since it didn't have much on it, not even an address, only her name written in very tidy handwriting, so whoever sent the letter must have delivered it personally. She carefully opened the envelope, and started reading the letter.

 _To Ms. Baxter:_

 _I have been chosen to propose an offer on behalf of my company, regarding the energy sources Tetra wants you to locate and acquire for them. Without trying to conceal the truth, we need your help to sabotage their efforts, but we fully understand why you might not want to do so. This will sound dubious, I'm aware of that, but the company I work for must remain unnamed in case this letter falls into the wrong hands. However, I have provided you with my phone number, so you can call me in case you require any further details. I will be in town until tomorrow evening in case you want to personally meet me and discuss this offer._

The letter stopped there, with no signature, and only a ten-digit phone number in the bottom right corner. Emilia was unsure of how to feel. She reread the letter once, and after doing that, she tore the letter in half, deciding she did not want to have anything to do with the scheme. A minute had passed, and she was just about ready to get up from her chair and head back downstairs, but for reasons unbeknownst to her, she grabbed her phone, as well as the right half of the torn letter, and decided to call the phone number. The person on the other side of the line didn't take long to answer.

"Hello?" - a voice said?

"I'm not discussing this over the phone Meet me at Dolce Café in an hour." - Emilia said in a hurry, and immediately hung up, not waiting for a reply.

"Why did I do that?" - she seemed to immediately regret her decision. She grabbed the two halves of the letter, and stuffed them back into an envelope. She placed both letters in the top drawer of her desk, which made a slight squeak as it closed. She then grabbed a dark grey jacket from the closet, and rushed out of the room, and back downstairs.

"Where are you going?" - her father asked, looking over the top of the book he was reading.

"For a walk." - Emilia replied. Her dad asked another question, but she closed the front door before she could hear what he said. She exited the house, and a slight breeze blew towards her. The mountain air was as crisp as ever. She began her downwards descent towards the village, walking down a cobblestone path made slightly slippery by the early morning fog. Given that she left her house fairly early, she initially walked at a slow pace, and it took her about twenty minutes to arrive at the main village square. From there it was a brief walk to the place where she told the voice on the other side of the phone to meet her. She walked past the terrace, filled with empty tables, and entered the café, which had a few more people in it, most of whom were drinking their morning coffee. A small bell rang as Emilia entered the warm room. She was greeted by the waitress, who immediately recognized her.

"The usual?" - she asked, and Emilia nodded in response. From the entrance, she headed left, towards a seat by the window, which was empty despite the amazing view of the mountainside it offered.

Not long after her, the small bell rang again, and a man entered. He was on the taller side, looked like he was in his mid-thirties, had short black hair, and wore a suit and tie, both of which didn't look as fancy as he thought they did. Nobody recognized him, noticeable by the brief silence right after he walked in, before everyone resumed with their usual morning activities. The fact that Emilia, or anyone else, didn't know who he was, made her assume that he was the man who sent her the letter. Her suspicions were reaffirmed when he nervously started walking towards her, and confirmed when he sat down opposite her.

"Ms. Baxter?" - he asked, and his voice trembled slightly. He seemed to regain some confidence after Emilia nodded, and he followed it up with another question.

"Have you considered the offer?"

"I have." - Emilia said, as the waitress brought over a cup of green tea - "But I'm not convinced. What exactly do you want me to do"

"The other letter you received from Tetra contains a plane ticket and a cheque. What you do with the money is your prerogative, but we want you to take the plane ticket, and accept Tetra's offer."

"Why is that? I thought you wanted to sabotage them?"

"We do, but there's a slight problem."

"And that is?"

"The land surrounding three out of the four locations is owned by Tetra, and is under constant surveillance. We couldn't even come within a few miles of the energy source without someone noticing us."

"And the fourth location?"

"That's the one they're sending you to first, Victoria Falls between Zambia and Zimbabwe." - Emilia started to worry at the very mention of Zambia, as she remembered it as the place where her mother perished, but she let the man continue regardless - "It's a World Heritage Site, so they cannot legally buy any land there. However, a few well-placed bribes and they can ensure that nobody even dares approach the area where the card is sealed."

"Wait, card?" - her concerns about the location they wanted to send her to seemed to be brushed aside by confusion - "There's a card?".

"Didn't they tell you?" - the man asked.

"I wasn't fully paying attention to what the guy at the meeting was rambling about, but I'm pretty sure they didn't."

"Well, I can tell you what we know so far. The energy that Tetra wants to get their hands on is sealed in four cards around the world, but they need all of them in order for maximum energy to be extracted from them."

"And why are you so interested in getting these cards?"

"If Tetra were to obtain all four cards, we don't know how exactly much energy they could produce, but our estimates are that the entire operation could be worth around fifty to sixty billion dollars." - Emilia's eyes widened when she heard the ludicrous number, which the man said so nonchalantly. He sounded almost sickeningly calm.

"The company I'm working for is one of Tetra's main competitors in the business, so you can imagine they wouldn't be entirely pleased with this. However, we don't need all of them. We need only one in order to stop Tetra's plan from going through. That's where you'd come in, if you were to accept the offer. Once the duelist Tetra hired manages to obtain the card, you have a brief window of time to get it off him before Tetra gets their hands on it."

"Won't someone from Tetra be around to ensure that they've obtained the card?"

"No. Tetra insists on the two people they're sending being alone in there. It's strange, and we're not entirely sure why they do that, but they've done it for the past two attempts as well, so we can only assume the same will happen now. That brief period when nobody's watching over you will be your best chance to get the card, and then inform one of our people who will be in the area."

"Won't Tetra eventually figure out what happened?" - Emilia started doubting that this plan could ever work, but she decided to stick around anyways.

"Yeah, but once you give us the card, we can protect you."

"And for how long will that protection be necessary?"

"Until Tetra gives up on obtaining the energy sources."

"So, given that you've already told me how much this entire thing is worth, I can assume that they won't give up that easily." - Emilia looked more and more impatient by the second.

"Unfortunately, it could go on for a couple of d..." - the man quickly stopped himself from saying the word _decades_ , as Emilia already looked ready to walk out on him, and he didn't want to make matters worse - "It could go on for a few years. But…"

"I've heard enough. I'm not going to go and ruin my entire life because of this ridiculous war you want to wage with Tetra!" - Emilia said, and got up from her seat. Things weren't going quite as intended.

"You do realize they will not stop pestering you?" - the man said, trying to appear calm, but his words reeked of desperation. It worked temporarily, and Emilia stopped, and turned to face him again.

"What exactly do you mean by that?"

"Tetra needs you. They'll start getting more and more ruthless in their attempts to convince you to accept their offer. And, even if they do give up eventually, they'll start going after other members of your family."

"We can just keep ignoring them. It's not like they can do too much anyways."

"You keep telling yourself that. But the fact is they won't give up until someone either accepts, or is in a coffin some place in the middle of nowhere."

"They wouldn't actually..."

"I'm not saying they would necessarily kill you, but you'd be surprised at the lengths they would go to."

"I still haven't been given an answer to one of my main questions." - Emilia changed her mind about walking out on this meeting, and sat back down - "Why do they specifically want me?"

"That's one of the things we're not sure on." - the man replied, pleased that she looked more ready than before to accept the offer - "But what we are sure of is that we can protect you if you just get one of those cards for us."

The two of them looked at each other for about a minute, sitting in silence, before the man spoke up again.

"I've said all I have to say. You don't have to accept this, and I understand why you would be inclined not to. I wouldn't want to accept it if I were you. But, do take into consideration that Tetra won't leave you alone for the rest of your life."

"So I'm screwed either way?" - Emilia asked.

"Unfortunately, you were screwed from the moment Tetra approached you." - the man tried to sound empathetic, but couldn't hide his feelings of relief, knowing that Emilia is very close to accepting the offer - "Anyways, you have my number, so think about it, and inform me of your decision. I'll be in town until late tomorrow, so I can wait."

He got out of his seat, thanked Emilia for her time, and headed for the exit.

"Waiting won't be necessary." - she said, and he turned around - "I'm in."

The man looked at her, and gave her a nod of approval, trying to look as collected as possible, even though he was extremely relieved that she finally accepted.

"I'm glad to hear that. I'll send you all the details shortly." - he said, opening the door of the café, letting in a gust of cold wind. Emilia was left to finish her tea in silence.

"This will not end well." - she thought.

* * *

Emilia came home an hour after she left for the meeting.

"How was your walk?" - her father asked, still sitting in his trusty chair, but without a book this time. He received no reply. Emilia rushed up the stairs, and to her room, to think about what just happened. Her first course of action after closing the door was to grab Tetra's letter, which was stashed away in one of her drawers. She hesitated to open it, but did so anyways. She took out the letter, briefly glanced at it, then tore it into pieces. She was a bit kinder to the cheque, carefully placing it back in the envelope, even if she had no intentions to withdraw the money. The last thing in the envelope was the most important one. A small, rectangular piece of paper. A ticket for a flight, which was scheduled to depart for Livingstone Airport eight days from now. She stared at it intently, as if paper could speak. Her phone moved very slightly across the sleek wooden surface of the table it was laying down on, vibrating to indicate she received a message. She finally stopped staring at the ticket, and put it down on the table, next to the phone, which she picked up immediately after.

"Thanks for accepting the offer. You'll receive all the details you need for the mission shortly, we just need to have one final look at them." - the message said.

"He calls it a _mission_." - Emilia thought - "That's so sad."

She put her phone down, and grabbed the plane ticket again. She looked at it, worried and terrified at how that small piece of paper can turn her life upside down.

"I guess this is happening." - she said, and buried her head in her arms, not sure what to think. She sat there for a few minutes, her head on the table, before her phone started vibrating again. She grabbed it to check whether or not the message she received came, once again, from the man she met an hour earlier. She presumed the message contained all the information she needed for her upcoming trip, but did not actually open it to check. Instead, she stared at the phone's bright screen for a couple of seconds, before throwing it towards the wall opposite her. Its back slammed against the wall, causing it to fall off, taking the battery with it. It all landed neatly on her bed, and didn't look particularly damaged.

Emilia took a deep breath. She heard someone coming up the stairs, and worried that whoever that was would enter her room, only to find her on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Luckily for her, that didn't happen, and the person continued walking past her room, and presumably went into the bathroom at the end of the hallway. She got up from her chair, and collected the parts of her phone scattered on her sheets, then placed them on her desk, not even bothering to reassemble them. She laid onto her bed face-down, trying to collect herself. Someone entered the room after all.

"Are you okay?" - her sister asked, peeking through the door. Emilia mumbled a few words in reply. Most of them were unintelligible because her head was buried in a pillow. She couldn't tell whether her sister understood her answer, or just didn't want to bother her, but she left the room regardless. After a few more minutes of moping into a pillow, Emilia got up, and went out of her room and onto the balcony. The wind from earlier in the morning had now completely calmed down, and the view she had of the mountainside was peaceful, and truly sublime. Clouds gathered close to the peak, but the sun was still shining upon the spruce trees lining the slopes. Even though Emilia moved here about a year and a half ago, the view never ceased to astound her. This time though, the entire experience didn't seem as breathtaking as it usually is, since Emilia couldn't take her mind off the events that happened in the past few days. As she delved in her thoughts, the clouds started clearing, and the sun's shine became brighter. Nature didn't care about her woes.


	3. Victoria

**Chapter 3 - Victoria**

The plane landed at Livingstone Airport at fifteen minutes past noon. The landing was almost too smooth, so much so that Michael barely felt when the wheels touched the ground. The plane was almost entirely empty and only had four people on it, discounting the crew: Michael, Emilia, and the two people employed to look after them. The bodyguard sitting across him mumbled something about getting the car ready into a small device in his hand, then signaled Michael and Emilia to start leaving the plane. They did so, and when everyone was safely off the plane, it started taxiing in to its gate while its passengers walked towards the airport entrance.

The airport itself was rather small, and there were barely any people waiting for a flight, which was expected seeing as there was only one more flight scheduled for today, due to leave in an hour. Michael hung around the gift shop for a short while, before one of his bodyguards instructed him to keep moving. Waiting for them at the entrance to the airport were two black SUVs. The man escorting him opened the door to the one parked in front, and waited for Michael to get in. After he did, the bodyguard also got in the car and sat in the front seat, instructing the driver to start the car. Right after they got under way, the bodyguard reached into the bag beneath his feet, and handed Michael a duel disk.

"I presume this is yours, unless there's been some kind of mix-up."

The disk had quite a standard design for the time, although accompanied by a relatively unorthodox set of colours. The central unit itself was square, with the corners slightly rounded. The dominant colour was dark marine blue, with bright lime green outlines around the edges and a large touchscreen in the middle. Its blade was fairly similar to the central unit in its rectangular design, albeit slightly elongated to ensure there's enough space for the card slots, which were a lighter shade of blue to the rest of the design. Much like the central unit, the edges of the blade were the same eye-catching shade of green.

"Yeah, it's mine." - Michael took his disk, and turned it on to check if everything was in working order - "Could you tell me exactly where we're going now?" - he asked as the screen turned on.

"Victoria Falls." - the driver spoke his first words since Michael got in the car - "The location of your first mission is there."

"And what exactly do you want me to do there?"

"I'm sure you were already told this, but the information we have is quite limited." - the driver continued talking, as Michael's bodyguard was fiddling with his phone, presumably to inform his superiors that they landed safely - "However, now that we're on our way to the mission, we can share what little information we have with you."

The driver paused briefly, checked his car's navigation system to make sure they were going the right way, then continued.

"The first obstacle you have to get past before getting to the card is a certain type of lock."

"That much I knew."

"The lock is presented as a duel puzzle. That is, both players' fields are set in advance, as well as your deck, extra deck and graveyard. Your opponent has a certain amount of life points, which you must reduce to zero in a single turn."

"Anything else?"

"That's the extent of what we know, I'm afraid. We do have a few notes from our previous expedition, though I wouldn't put too much faith in those, seeing as they failed to get past the first lock."

"And what's past the first one?"

"We don't know." - the driver said, then paused for his routine check of the map - "The first expedition managed to get past the first lock, but both people who were part of the mission were nowhere to be found after they did so, hence why we have such limited information."

"So, what happens if we fail?"

"If you can't get past the first one, there don't seem to be any consequences. The gate won't open, but you'll be free to leave."

"And the second one?"

"Again, we don't quite know. Regardless, you're probably better off not finding out what happens if you fail that."

"Hope I won't have to." - Michael thought, looking out the window. The number of houses next to the road was decreasing, with only the occasional dusty turnoff leading to a few small houses, most often with blue roofs.

"Leaving Livingstone, we should be at the location shortly." - the driver announced. Michael had no more questions to ask, at least none that would be answered, so the rest of their journey towards Victoria Falls was dominated by silence, only interrupted by the occasional thump when the car drove over a bump in the road.

* * *

"Why have we parked in the middle of nowhere?" - Michael asked, stepping out of the car and into the dust. Despite how dry the landscape around him looked, the air was fairly humid, and the waterfalls hummed slowly in the distance, still far enough away for their drone to not be deafening.

"This is the safest way for you to get down." - his bodyguard explained.

"Wait, get down?"

"Yeah, there's a boat waiting for you in the Zambezi that'll take you to the location." - the driver said - "The only thing we're waiting for now is the other car."

"Speak of the devil…" - Michael thought, and the car Emilia was in popped up on the horizon. It almost looked like it was going to go past them, before it turned onto the dirt road Michael's entourage was on. After a short wait, the car finally stopped, kicking up a large cloud of dust, and Emilia was quick to get out.

"I hate cars." - she mumbled as she practically leapt from the back seat, closing the left-side door just as her bodyguard was also about to get out of the car. As if he had given up on getting out where he intended, he worked his way over to the right of the car, and got out through that door instead.

"Why are we here?" - she asked.

"There's a boat waiting for us down in the river." - Michael said.

"The door you're going to unlock is in a cave underneath one of the waterfalls. There's a man waiting for you in the boat, he's going to fill you in on everything you need to do." - his driver filled in the missing details before Emilia had the chance to ask any more questions, which she did regardless.

"Is going under the waterfall even safe?"

"We've done it twice already and nothing went wrong so far."

" _So far_ …" - Emilia mumbled, but the driver just ignored her.

"Let's get going." - he said, and pointed towards the dirt path Michael was already on. He didn't feel like waiting any longer.

"Fine." - Emilia huffed.

* * *

"I'd recommend you get into the cabin, unless you want to get drenched." - a man said as the boat slowly set off on its trip. Emilia immediately heeded his advice, but Michael hung around the outside of the boat for a short while, admiring the scenery.

"So, who are you?" - Emilia asked the man once Michael finally decided to join them.

"Ethan Magnussen, head of Tetra's field operations." - the pair listening to him didn't seem all too impressed by his credentials, so he continued after an awkward pause - "I'm the one responsible for everything that happens in the next few weeks as you guys retrieve these cards."

He turned around and looked through the window before continuing.

"We'll be there in around five minutes, so listen carefully." - he raised his voice as the murmur of the waterfalls started getting ever louder - "So, Michael, I presume you've been informed of what you need to do."

"I know I need to get past a puzzle, but they said they didn't know what comes after it." - Michael nodded.

"That's the gist of things, yeah. The only additional information I can give you is that there's likely a duel waiting for you behind the first door, which is why you need that duel disk." - Ethan pointed at the device already on Michael's arm, then turned to Emilia.

"What's my role?" - she asked before he even had a chance to explain anything.

"I was getting to that." - he mumbled - "The lock you're getting past has two parts. One is the puzzle, which is Michael's responsibility, and the other is yours."

"Get to the point."

"The door will have a small rectangular opening for you to place your hand in. Once you do, provided the puzzle has been solved, the door will open."

"Wait, that's it? You need me to put my hand somewhere?" - Emilia asked.

Ethan nodded, seemingly unable to understand what she was confused about.

"So why did you specifically need me to do that? Surely any person in the world that has a hand will suffice."

"Yeah, that's what I forgot to mention. That part of the lock only responds to a specific genetic code. So yes, we did need you."

"That must be why…" - a thought popped into Michael's head, but Emilia interrupted his train of thought.

"How the hell did you find that out?"

"Thanks to your mother."

"Thought so." - Michael said.

"She spent a lot of time studying the lock, only to find out that it didn't respond to anyone's hand except hers. She saved us a lot of trouble by figuring that out. That's why we sent her on this expedition."

"And that's why I never saw her again." - Emilia's words were drowned out by the noise of the falls around them, so her words fell on deaf ears. A couple more minutes passed without anyone saying a word. Ethan jumped off the boat first, followed by Michael and Emilia, who were more reluctant to do so. Once all of them were on solid ground, they were stood in front of a cave entrance. Ethan briefly repeated what the two of them needed to do, then handed Emilia a flashlight.

"I'll be waiting for you here." - he said, and sent the pair off into the cave after wishing them good luck.

"So, why did you decide to come here in the end? Last I remember you couldn't stand the idea of helping Tetra." - Michael asked after about a minute of walking through the rocky tunnels, his voice echoing off the walls.

"Let's just say my hand was forced." - Emilia justifiably didn't want to tell Michael the full truth, and he didn't continue asking questions, so the conversation ended at that. A couple more minutes went by in silence, and just like that they arrived in a seemingly abandoned dueling arena. As soon as Michael set foot in the room, the arena started slowly rising, leaving Emilia to watch from below.

"Well, I guess this is happening." - Michael thought as the holograms slowly started fazing in, being projected by the four pillars in each corner of the arena. The first monster that appeared on his opponent's field was a dragon covered in fish-like blue scales, with golden armour running down its back and towards the end of its tail, which had a shining trident on it. Protruding out of its back was a set of dark orange fins. Next to the dragon was a pitch-black serpent with eyes that pierced through the cave's darkness. Bright blue horns covered its body, and the light they gave off playfully bounced off the water droplets dripping down from the cave's ceiling. Appearing on the scene last, much smaller than both monsters next to it, was a turquoise fish with a deep purple armour and shield, holding a sharp curved blade in its right hand. On the other side of the field, Michael controlled no monsters, but had a Continuous Spell Card already active, and two set cards either side of it.

"Let's have a look at this." - Michael thought and began analysing the field setup - " **Poseidra, the Atlantean Dragon** , huh? Haven't seen that one in a while. It has no on-field effects, so not much of a worry there. Then, **Abyss Dweller**. Since that thing is there, I cannot use any effects in the graveyard this turn, and it grants all WATER-attribute monsters 500 ATK. Finally, **Atlantean Attack Squad** gains 800 ATK because there's a Sea Serpent on the field, but it has no other effects, so it's not much more than a nuisance."

 **Poseidra, the Atlantean Dragon:** WATER/Sea Serpent/Effect/Level 7/ATK 2800 + 500 = 3300/DEF 1600

 **Abyss Dweller:** WATER/Sea Serpent/Xyz/Effect/Rank 4/ATK 1700 + 500 = 2200/DEF 1400

 **Atlantean Attack Squad:** WATER/Sea Serpent/Effect/Level 3/ATK 1400 + 500 + 800 = 2700/DEF 0

"And, the opponent has…" - Michael glanced at the LP counter - "… _eight thousand_ life points. And I have to reduce them to zero this turn with nothing on the field."

He took his stress ball out of the inner pocket of his blazer, then carefully looked through his deck and extra deck.

"Extra deck has too many things in there, I doubt they'll all be useful." - he looked at the first card in the extra deck - " **Phantom Fortress Enterblathnir**? Rank 9, how do you even expect me to summon that? As a matter of fact, how do you expect me to summon **Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon**?"

He then took a closer look at this hand.

"Ah, **Tannhauser Gate** , got you. I've also got **Monster Reborn**. As far as the graveyard goes…" - he looked at Divine Dragon Apocralyph, the sole card in his graveyard - "…not much of any use."

After about a minute and a half, he snapped his fingers, as if something in his head clicked and he knew exactly what to do.

"Let's get it going then! I activate my set **Offerings to the Doomed** , destroying **Atlantean Attack Squad**!"

"The only reason he wouldn't destroy the strongest monster there is if he needs it for something." - Emilia thought as she watched the purple-armoured fish get consumed by a fireball.

"Next, since I control no monsters, I summon **Hieratic Dragon of Tefnuit**! (LIGHT/Dragon/Effect/Level 6/ATK 2100/DEF 1400)" - a snow-white dragon appeared, wearing sparkling golden armour over most of its body - "Then, I activate the effect of the **Dracocension** already on the field, and tribute **Tefnuit** to summon **Giant Pairfish** (WATER/Wyrm/Effect/Level 6/ATK 2000/DEF 1200) from my deck!" - two fish appeared, one pink, white and purple, wearing a hat. The other was blue and white, and wore a green and yellow helmet.

"Using the effect of **Giant Pairfish** , I send **Galaxy Serpent** from my hand to the graveyard, and summon **Jiaotu, Darkness of the Yang Zing**! (DARK/Wyrm/Tuner/Effect/Level 2/ATK 0/DEF 2000)" - after this summon, his deck contained a single card.

"A Tuner, huh?" - Emilia mumbled.

"I tune my Level 2 **Jiaotu** and Level 6 **Giant Pairfish**! Synchro Summon, dark dragon, ruler of the inferno! Approach, **Beelze of the Diabolic Dragons**! (DARK/Dragon/Synchro/Effect/Level 8/ATK 3000/DEF 3000)" - the central part of the dark red dragon looked like the head of a fly, with two large yellow jewels resembling eyes, and metallic jaws beneath them. From there sprouted two heads and a long tail - "And, I'll now banish **Jiaotu** from the graveyard to summon **White Dragon Wyverburster** (LIGHT/Dragon/Effect/Level 4/ATK 1800/DEF 1700) from my hand!"

Despite its name, the front of the dragon's body was primarily blue, but its back and wings were white as a pearl.

"Do you have something set that'll help you win, because I'm not seeing it." - Emilia asked.

"Actually, I do." - Michael picked up the last Trap Card set on his field and showed it to her before placing it back down - "I activate **Switcheroroo** , which switches control of all monsters on the field if my opponent and I have the same number of them."

Both players' monsters briefly fazed out of existence, before reappearing on the opposite sides of the field.

"Then, I activate **Monster Reborn** , bringing **Galaxy Serpent** (LIGHT/Dragon/Tuner/Normal/Level 2/ATK 1000/DEF 0) back from the graveyard!" - an ethereal dragon appeared, its wings and body seemingly made out of nothing but light.

"Another Tuner…"

"Now, I Normal Summon **Hieratic Dragon of Eset**! (LIGHT/Dragon/Effect/Level 5/ATK 1900/DEF 1200)" - Michael said as another dragon appeared on his field, this one coloured a light shade of purple, wearing bronze armour. His hand now contained one card - "Since I summoned it without tributing anything, its ATK becomes 1000."

"Wait a minute…" - Emilia thought, catching a glimpse of the last card in Michael's hand.

"I activate **Tannhauser Gate**!" - he smiled - "This will combine the Levels of two of my monsters, provided they have 1000 ATK or less!"

 **Galaxy Serpent:** Level 2 + 5 = 7

 **Hieratic Dragon of Eset:** Level 5 + 2 = 7

"I overlay my Level 7 **Galaxy Serpent** and **Hieratic Dragon of Eset**! Xyz Summon, **Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon**! (DARK/Dragon/Xyz/Effect/Rank 7/ATK 2800/DEF 2400)"

The dragon's black skin had a metallic shine to it, and its tail and body were covered in sharp edges. It spread its dark red wings and roared towards the stalactites on the ceiling, producing a deafening echo. Emilia smiled, finally realizing what Michael's plan was from the beginning.

"Battle! **Poseidra, the Atlantean Dragon** attacks **White Dragon Wyverburster**!"

 **LP** 8000 - 1600 = 6400

"And now, since its controller took damage, **Beelze** 's effect will activate, and it'll gain ATK equal to the damage taken." - Michael said.

 **Beelze of the Diabolic Dragons:** ATK 3000 + 1600 = 4600

"Then, **Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon** 's effect activates, dealing 500 damage to the opponent since an effect was activated on their side of the field." - Emilia filled in the rest.

 **LP** 6400 - 500 = 5900

"Upon which **Beelze** 's effect activates again!"

 **Beelze of the Diabolic Dragons:** ATK 4600 + 500 = 5100

Michael jumped down from the platform he was standing on, letting the rest of the duel play out automatically. Once Beelze's ATK reached 10600, and the opponent's life pointes reached zero, the puzzle was completed.

"Let's go." - Michael said, heading down a thin rocky path towards the large gate on the other side of the room. On there was a small crystal in the shape of a water droplet, glowing blue to signify that the first step towards unlocking the door was completed. Next to it was a small rectangular opening. Emilia reluctantly approached it, and placed her hand in there. Nothing happened.

"Any time now." - both of them said in unison. As soon as they did, the sound of two rocks scraping together pierced their ears. The gates slowly started opening. Emilia hastily took her hand out of the slot, and they both took a couple steps back just to be on the safe side. Once they were fully opened, Michael and Emilia were faced with the person who was waiting for them on the other side. The man was covered in dark blue robes, with a turquoise collar holding up the hood covering his head. What was visible of his face revealed a lot of wrinkles, indicating that this person was quite old.

"So, you made it past the first gate, have you?" - he spoke slowly, to make sure all of his words were pronounced nigh on perfectly. As he was saying this, something in the corner of the room caught Emilia's eye. She started sneaking towards this mysterious object, hoping to go unnoticed.

"Who are you?" - Michael asked.

"The name is Tidal. I'm the guardian of this place." - the old man said, taking out a bright blue duel disk - "And it is my duty to make sure you do not get out of here alive."


	4. High Tide

**Chapter 4 - High Tide**

"It's quite simple, really." - Tidal said - "You aren't getting out of here without beating me in a duel. And I'll try my hardest to make sure that does not happen."

"So I'm fighting for both our lives." - Michael thought, scanning the room, trying to find Emilia, but he was out of luck - "Better not lose then."

"What a ridiculous thing to say." - he thought - " _Better not lose_ , as if I was intending on dying today."

Michael stopped arguing with himself, and activated his duel disk.

"We're dueling, then!" - he told Tidal - "Not that I have much of a choice."

"You're going to regret ever coming here!" - he replied.

"Duel!" - they both said simultaneously.

 **Turn 1 - Tidal (LP - 4000 / Hand - 5 / Field - X)**

"I'll take the first move!" - Tidal said - "I place one monster in face-down Defense Position!" - a card appeared in front of him, hovering horizontally.

"Next, I'll set one card, and end my turn!" - another face-down card showed up in front of him, right below the set monster.

 **Turn 2 - Michael (LP - 4000 / Hand - 5 / Field - X)**

"Was that the entire thing?" - Michael asked - "You talked yourself up so much, I expected to drop dead before the first turn ended."

"Be patient."

"I don't have time to be patient!" - Michael drew a card and looked at his hand - "I Normal Summon **Wind-Up Soldier**! (EARTH/Warrior/Effect/Level 4/ATK 1800/DEF 1200)"

A human-sized mechanical warrior started assembling itself in front of Michael. The lime green hands and arms were connected to the white spherical body using circular joins with gears on them. The soldier's arms were a pair of red grabbing claws, and its giant black eyes on a magnet-shaped head completed its cartoonish look. Out of its back came the monster's namesake - a large golden wind-up key.

" **Wind-Up Soldier** , attack his face-down monster!" - Michael declared. His monster stomped across the field, its key incessantly spinning as it trod along, kicking up small dust clouds. Its attack revealed a strange, centaur-looking machine, its body composed of two fishbowls, each with a single seal in it, one piloting the centaur's legs, and the other controlling its arms that wielded one crossbow each. The monster got destroyed without too much resistance, leaving a cloud of steam behind as it disappeared off the field.

"Unfortunately, I couldn't get any damage through." - Michael took a card from his hand, and placed it face-down in his Spell and Trap Zone - "I end my turn."

 **Turn 3 - Tidal (LP - 4000 / Hand - 3 / Field - Spells/Traps:** 1 set **)**

"Now the pieces are all in place!" - Tidal said, sending a card from his hand to the graveyard - "I activate the effect of the monster you just destroyed! I Special Summon **Fishborg Archer** (WATER/Fish/Tuner/Effect/Level 3/ATK 300/DEF 300) from the graveyard!"

The crossbow-wielding seal-piloted centaur appeared on the field once more.

"If I control no monsters, **Fishborg Archer** can be summoned back from the graveyard by discarding a WATER monster, but all of my non-WATER monsters will be destroyed at the start of the battle phase! Next, I use the effect of the monster I just discarded! Since all the monsters I control are Fishborg monsters, I can Special Summon back **Fishborg Doctor**! (WATER/Fish/Effect/Level 4/ATK 400/DEF 400)"

A white and red mechanical fish appeared, once again being piloted by a creature inside a fishbowl. The chassis itself was equipped with several appendages, including a small saw above the bowl, and a pair of grabbers either side of it.

"The **Fishborg Doctor** summoned this way will be banished when it leaves the field." - Tidal explained - "Now, I tune my Level 3 **Fishborg Archer** with my Level 4 **Fishborg Doctor**! Awaken from your slumber, dragon of the gods! Synchro Summon, **Gungnir, Dragon of the Ice Barrier**! (WATER/Dragon/Synchro/Effect/Level 7/ATK 2500/DEF 1700)"

The dragon burst out of the ground, and briefly hovered just below the cave's ceiling before landing on all four of its legs. Everything from its head to its wings was made out of solid ice, but despite its cold appearance, the dragon had a warm glow surrounding it.

"Now, you'll get to experience **Gungnir** 's effect firsthand! I discard a card from my hand, and destroy your **Wind-Up Soldier**!" - Gungnir opened its mouth wide, sending a burst of ice Michael's way.

"Don't get too ahead of yourself." - he immediately responded, activating a Trap Card that absorbed Gungnir's blast - "I activate **Zenmailstrom**!"

"Well, it wouldn't be fun if you were a pushover." - Tidal said - "Go on then, what does that Trap do?"

"I Tribute my **Wind-Up Soldier** , causing your monster's effect to fizzle out!" - Michael said - "And then, I Special Summon **Wind-Up Honeybee** (EARTH/Insect/Effect/Level 1/ATK 100/DEF 300) from my hand!"

A mechanical bee appeared in front of Michael, barely the size of his head. It happily hovered in the air, its black and yellow body happily bobbing around. Its head was half-white and half-yellow, with a star on top of it. It used its tiny arms to take off its amber-coloured goggles, which seemed entirely unnecessary, and looked around the cave with its adorably large eyes, looking slightly perplexed by the whole situation.

"Not bad." - Tidal commented - "You managed to dodge **Gungnir** 's effect, but you haven't accomplished much by just replacing one monster with another."

"Not quite done!" - Michael said - " **Zenmailstrom** allows me to Special Summon a Wind-Up monster from my deck with the same ATK as the one I just summoned! And with that, I Special Summon another **Wind-Up Honeybee** from the deck!"

There were now two small bees buzzing around the field.

"Not bad, but not enough to stop me!" - Tidal continued - "Next, I Normal Summon **Unshaven Angler** (WATER/Fish/Effect/Level 4/ATK 1500/DEF 1600)" - a large angler with a huge jaw appeared on the field. The monster's eyes were glowing in the dark, giving away its location, since it was otherwise barely visible in the darkness of the cave.

"Now, **Gungnir, Dragon of the Ice Barrier** , attack **Wind-Up Honeybee**!" - Gungnir's wide open mouth shot a trail of ice towards one of the bees, freezing it in place. Its flight stopped, and it fell to the ground, shattering into a million pieces.

"When **Honeybee** is destroyed, I can Special Summon a Wind-Up monster from my deck!" - Michael said - "Rise, **Wind-Up Knight**! (LIGHT/Warrior/Effect/Level 4/ATK 1800/DEF 1200)"

An elegant warrior appeared, covered in shining silver armour. It wielded a sword in its right hand, and a shield in its left. Much like Michael's other monsters, it has a wind-up key in its back. There were gears scattered all over the toy, slowly ticking along to make the whole mechanism work.

"So that's what **Honeybee** does." - Tidal thought, looking at the only bee left buzzing on the field - "I'm probably better off not attacking it for now, not like he can do much with such a weak monster anyways."

"I end my turn." - he said.

 **Turn 4 - Michael (LP - 4000 / Hand - 3 / Field - Monsters:** Wind-Up Honeybee, Wind-Up Knight **)**

"Not the best situation to be in." - Michael thought, looking at Tidal's field - "Let's see if this next card will help in getting me out of this wrench."

He drew his next card, and immediately smiled upon noticing what the card was.

"Just in time." - he thought - "I Normal Summon **Wind-Up Kitten**! (EARTH/Beast/Effect/Level 2/ATK 800/DEF 500)"

A small white and orange kitten appeared on the field, happily leaping from side to side, as the golden wind-up key in its back spun around. Its ears were twitching as it looked around with its big eyes, one of which was green, and the other blue. It looked towards Gungnir, then sat down, not too bothered by the giant ice dragon it was facing.

"Using **Kitten** 's effect, I can target one of your monsters and return it to the hand!" - Kitten walked over to Tidal's field, staring down Gungnir with indifference in its eyes. It hissed in its direction, and the fearsome dragon took a few steps back. It departed off the field, letting out one final roar. Michael couldn't help but laugh at the sight of a giant dragon being taken down by a small toy kitten. As the heroic cat ran back to its owner, its wind-up key slowly stopped spinning.

"Luckily for you, the effects of Wind-Up monsters can only be used once while they are face-up on the field!" - Michael said after the orange cat ground to a halt.

"Now, **Wind-Up Knight** , attack **Unshaven Angler**!" - the toy started charging towards Tidal's field, holding its shield and sword firmly in front of it.

"Not so fast! I activate **Poseidon Wave** , negating your attack!" - the knight's charge was effortlessly stopped by Tidal's Trap Card - "And, after that, you take 800 damage for each Fish, Sea Serpent and Aqua monster I control. Luckily for you, I only have one."

A tall wave rushed towards Michael, soaking him before he even realized what was happening.

 **Michael:** LP 4000 - 800 = 3200

"Damn it, I couldn't get any damage through. And I don't have much on the field" - Michael thought - "Luckily, I have this to protect me."

He set Quaking Mirror Force from his hand, and ended his turn.

 **Turn 5 - Tidal (LP - 4000 / Hand - 1 / Field - Monsters:** Unshaven Angler **)**

" _There it is!_ " - Tidal thought, looking at the card he drew - "But first… "

"Judging by the look on his face, I'm not in for a fun time."

" **Unshaven Angler** 's effect allows it to be treated as 2 tributes for the Tribute Summon of a WATER monster. With that said, I Tribute it, and summon **Superancient Deepsea King Coelacanth**! (WATER/Fish/Effect/Level 7/ATK 2800/DEF 2200)"

After about ten seconds of the ground shaking, a lake appeared between the two duelists, but not much happened afterwards.

"Where is it?" - Michael asked.

"Look down below."

Michael looked at the crystal-clear lake that appeared out of nowhere. He still couldn't notice anything at first glance, but he had to take a couple steps back once he realized a giant blue eye was staring at him from the depths. Immediately after Michael noticed it, the huge grey fish started swimming around, causing ripples on top of the lake.

"Next, I activate **Coelacanth** 's effect!" - he said, sending a monster from his hand to the graveyard - "By discarding a card, I can Special Summon as many Fish monsters from my deck as possible!"

"That's about as powerful as I was expecting from this thing." - Michael said, still terrified of the size of the monster as it swam by one more time, causing a slightly larger wave than the last one.

"From my deck, I summon **Royal Swamp Eel** (WATER/Fish/Tuner/Effect/Level 4/ATK 1700/DEF 1200), **Oyster Meister** (WATER/Fish/Effect/Level 3/ATK 1600/DEF 200), **Fishborg Archer** (WATER/Fish/Tuner/Effect/Level 3/ATK 300/DEF 300) and **Fishborg Planter**! (WATER/Fish/Effect/Level 2/ATK 200/DEF 200)"

A white and red eel appeared, wearing a golden, jewel-encrusted crown, and next to it was a strange-looking humanoid oyster. After them came another seal-piloted mechanical centaur appeared on Tidal's field, and next to it was a fishbowl with flowers growing out of it, armed with tentacles.

"Now, I tune my Level 4 **Royal Swamp Eel** and Level 2 **Fishborg Planter**! Bow before the descendant of the gods! Synchro Summon, **Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier**! (WATER/Sea Serpent/Synchro/Effect/Level 6/ATK 2300/DEF 1400)" - a bright blue dragon appeared, its long, serpent-like body and wide wings were both made out of solid ice, and its head was shaped like a six-pointed star. The dragon roared towards the cave's ceiling, releasing an icy breath cold enough to freeze anything in its vicinity. Slowly, the water dripping off the stalactites started solidifying and falling to the ground, creating a cacophony of noise, echoing off the walls of the cave as the frozen droplets hit the ground.

"I'm not done yet!" - Tidal continued - "I tune my Level 3 **Fishborg Archer** and Level 3 **Oyster Meister**! Roar to the heavens, mighty beast! Synchro Summon, **Dewloren, Tiger King of the Ice Barrier**! (WATER/Beast/Synchro/Effect/Level 6/ATK 2500/DEF 1400)" - an ice-covered bright turquoise beast appeared, wearing a black and gold suit of armour, large enough to rival the dragon next to it.

"Then, when **Oyster Meister** is sent to the Graveyard, except by battle, I can Special Summon an **Oyster Token** (WATER/Fish/Level 1/ATK 0/DEF 0) to my field!" - a small brown oyster appeared in between the two beasts on Tidal's field - "Now, since all monsters in my graveyard are WATER monsters, I can Special Summon **Fishborg Launcher** (WATER/Fish/Tuner/Effect/Level 1/ATK 200/DEF 100) from my graveyard! However, when it's summoned this way, it gets banished once it leaves the field."

Much like other Fishborgs, the main part of this monster was a fishbowl, this time piloted by a giant water bug. The robot's mechanical body was largely orange and white, and its two hands also functioned as swords. Finally, there was a small missile launcher above the fishbowl serving as the main control pod.

"I've got to compliment you." - Tidal said - "None of my other opponents even got this far. Now, are you ready for my final act?"

The lake between Michael and Tidal had almost completely frozen over by now, but Coelacanth just continued carelessly swimming below the surface. Michael's eyes widened as a bright blue glow appeared around his opponent.

"From my graveyard, I banish **Fishborg Archer** and **Unshaven Angler** from my graveyard! Rise from the deep, ruler of the oceans and lord of the lakes! Drown your opponents in your magnificent might! Awaken, **Tidal, Dragon Ruler of Waterfalls**! (WATER/Dragon/Effect/Level 7/ATK 2600/DEF 2000)" - another ice-covered dragon appeared, about twice the size of Brionac. Whatever light there was in the cave reflected off its silver body. It flew up into the air as best it could, and let out a roar loud enough to silence any waterfall, causing the layer of newly-formed ice covering the lake to crack. It spread its wondrous blue wings as it descended back down upon the floor of the cave, causing the ground to shake as it landed.

"Fortunately for you, you won't be experiencing **Tidal** 's full power today. Unfortunately for you, however, it's about to get replaced by an even more powerful dragon. I tune my Level 1 **Fishborg Launcher** , Level 1 **Oyster Token** and Level 7 **Tidal, Dragon Ruler of Waterfalls**! Tremble in fear before the ultimate dragon! Descend, three-headed goddess of creation, witness of life and harbinger of death! Synchro Summon, **Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier**! (WATER/Dragon/Synchro/Effect/Level 9/ATK 2700/DEF 2000)"

Yet another dragon appeared, this one with three heads instead of one and an amber jewel embedded in each of them. Its body was a dark shade of blue, with parts of it, including its wings and torso, covered by a thick layer of white ice.

"Now that it's been successfully summoned, I use **Trishula** 's effect to banish three cards - one from your hand, one from the graveyard, and one from the field!"

"This just keeps getting worse, doesn't it?" - Michael thought.

"Let's start off by getting rid of that set card, so it doesn't bother me!" - Tidal said, as Michael's hopes of his monsters living to see another day vanished off the field - "Then, a random card from the hand."

With this last move, Michael's hand size was cut in half, and he couldn't do anything but watch as all of his precious resources fizzled away.

"And finally, the least important one. Let's banish, say, **Wind-Up Soldier** from your graveyard!"

"Are you done yet?" - Michael asked, tired of Tidal's charade.

"Not by a long shot! Now, I activate the effect of **Dewloren, Tiger King of the Ice Barrier**! By returning any number of face-up cards I control to the hand, **Dewloren** will get 500 ATK for each!" - the lake in between the two opponents, which still had pieces of ice floating on it, began to shrink in size until it completely disappeared - "And now that it's served its purpose, I return **Superancient Deepsea King Coelacanth** to my hand!"

 **Dewloren, Tiger King of the Ice Barrier:** ATK 2000 + 500 = 2500

"There must be a reason why he returned **Coelacanth** to his hand." - Michael thought - "There's no way he'd get rid of something that powerful if the only thing he's getting out of it was a 500 ATK boost."

"Now, I activate the effect of **Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier**! By discarding any number of cards from my hand, I can return the same number of cards you control to the hand!"

"And there it is." - Michael continued his train of thought - "He needed a card in his hand to activate **Brionac** 's effect."

"I can't have you negating my attacks, so **Wind-Up Knight** is going straight back to the hand!" - Tidal said - "And with that, everything is ready. Battle Phase! **Brionac** attacks **Wind-Up Honeybee**!"

A large burst of ice came towards the helpless yellow bee, freezing it solid. It shattered into thousands of tiny pieces as it fell to the floor.

"I use **Honeybee** 's effect, and Special Summon **Wind-Up Rabbit** from my deck!" - a mechanical rabbit appeared, painted red and white. Much like other Wind-Ups, it had a giant golden key sticking out its back, spinning wildly as the rabbit jumped around the field.

"Next, **Dewloren** attacks **Wind-Up Rabbit**!"

"Before you do that…" - Michael interrupted him - "I use **Rabbit** 's effect to banish my **Wind-Up Kitten** from the field."

"Not sure what the point of that was, but **Dewloren** 's attack goes through regardless!" - after a total of around ten seconds of being on the field, the rabbit froze solid much like the bee before it, and fell apart in much the same way.

"And now, since you so kindly removed **Kitten** from the field for me, I'll have **Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier** attack you directly!"

"Brace for impact." - Michael whispered, as the cold from Trishula's incoming attack started reaching him before the attack itself. Once that came, Michael stood no chance and was knocked off his feet by a storm of snow and ice.

 **Michael:** LP 3200 - 2700 = 500

Tidal looked at Michael as he somehow recovered from Trishula's fierce attack, barely managing to get back up on his feet.

"Michael! Look at this!" - Emilia shouted from another end of the cave, waving a duel disk around.

"I'm kind of busy…" - Michael replied.

"No, but look." - Emilia demanded once more, and Michael finally started paying attention to what she was saying.

"Whose is that?" - he asked once he finally realized she was holding a duel disk in her hands.

"That's my mother's duel disk…" - Emilia said.

"Are you sure? That looks like quite a generic model."

"I'm sure!" - Emilia finished her thought, choosing to ignore the fact that Michael interrupted her - "This is her deck!"

"So, I guess now we've solved the mystery of where your mother went? She was probably defeated by this lunatic, and god only knows what happened with her afterwards." - Michael said, referring to Tidal, who chose to stay silent all throughout this exchange, but finally spoke up now.

"I did not touch her!" - he said, clearly offended by Michael's suggestions that he harmed her, much to both Emilia's and Michael's surprise.

"Hold on…" - Emilia started saying, but was once again rudely interrupted.

"She left this godforsaken place unharmed." - he said - "But even if I had done something to her, you've got bigger things to worry about right now. She might have gotten out alive, but with nothing on your field, you might not."


	5. The Flood

**Chapter 5 - The Flood**

"I'm not going to claim you're out for the count just yet." - Tidal said - "I haven't won yet. You have shown yourself to be a fantastic duelist. So, go ahead, surprise me. It's your turn."

 **Turn 6 - Michael (LP - 500 / Hand - 2 / Field - X)**

Michael drew a card, and stared at Tidal silently for a couple of seconds. As his duel disk's screen switched from the Draw Phase to the Standby Phase, a white and orange mechanical kitten reappeared on his field.

"What the hell is this?" - Tidal asked.

"You must have forgotten that I banished **Wind-Up Kitten** on the previous turn." - Michael explained - "A monster banished using **Wind-Up Rabbit** 's effect returns to the field during my Standby Phase. You didn't seriously think I'd just get rid of one of my monsters like that?"

"Of course you wouldn't."

"And since the effect of a Wind-Up monster can only be used once while that monster is face-up on the field, this means I can now use **Kitten** 's effect again!"

"This means..."

"This means **Trishula** is as good as gone." - Michael said - "But I've got a couple things I need to do before we get to that. And to start off, I Normal Summon **Wind-Up Magician**! (FIRE/Spellcaster/Effect/Level 4/ATK 600/DEF 1800)"

On Michael's field was a purple-robed magician with a large wind-up key in its back, holding a staff with both its hands. The top of the staff was shaped like a crescent moon, and inside of the shape were a couple of gears, spinning around.

"Now I'll use **Wind-Up Kitten** 's effect." - Michael pointed at the dragon in the middle of Tidal's field. The ice that made up the majority of its body started melting, slowly at first, but it wasn't long until the once mighty dragon was reduced to nothing but a puddle of water on the floor.

"And that's not all! Once while **Wind-Up Magician** is on the field, and the effect of another Wind-Up monster is activated, I can Special Summon a Wind-Up monster from my deck! Come forth, **Wind-Up Warrior**! (EARTH/Warrior/Effect/Level 4/ATK 1200/DEF 1800)"

An orange machine appeared, its main chassis and grabbing claw arms were larger than those of other Wind-Ups, and also big when compared to its legs, which looked like they could barely hold up the weight of the rest of the toy.

"Now, I use **Wind-Up Warrior** 's effect, which allows one of my Wind-Ups to gain 600 ATK, as well as increasing its Level by one!"

 **Wind-Up Kitten:** ATK 800 + 600 = 1400 / Level 2 to 3

"Next up, I activate **Zenmailfunction** , which allows me to Special Summon a Wind-Up monster from my graveyard in defense position, at the cost of its effects being negated!" - Michael refused to slow down - "Come back to me, **Wind-Up Rabbit**! (EARTH/Beast-Warrior/Effect/Level 3/ATK 1400/DEF 600)"

The long-eared red and white creature was the next toy to make a reappearance on Michael's field.

" **Kitten** and **Rabbit** aboard, the crew is all ready! Set sail, glorious machine of war, across the deepest oceans and towards victory! Xyz Summon, **Wind-Up Carrier Zenmaity**! (WATER/Machine/Xyz/Effect/Rank 3/ATK 1500/DEF 1500)"

A colourful boat appeared on the field, with two long runways, one of which had Wind-Up Kitten on it, lazily wasting time. Barely visible at the back of the boat was the blue and white captain's cabin, inside of which was a red rabbit, hopping around without a clue.

"Now, I use the effect of **Zenmaity**! By detaching **Wind-Up Kitten** from it, I can Special Summon a Wind-Up monster from my deck! Join the show, **Wind-Up Rat**! (EARTH/Beast/Effect/Level 3/ATK 600/DEF 600)"

A small blue and white rat came out of one of Zenmaity's hangars. It had round ears half the size of its head, and wheels instead of legs, with blue gears on them. These wheels didn't seem to be quite effective, as the trek across one of Zenmaity's runways took longer than expected. After about ten seconds, the rat slowly rolled past the kitten, who was still lazing around, and landed on the playing field, and the cat was soon to follow.

"Now, I use **Wind-Up Rat** 's effect! By changing it to Defense Position, I can Special Summon a Wind-Up monster from my graveyard in defense!" - the golden key in the rat's back slowly stopped spinning - "Welcome back, **Wind-Up Kitten**! And while you're here, do me a favour and return **Brionac** to the extra deck, will you?"

Unusually for a cat, the kitten obeyed Michael's order, and ran over to Tidal's field, letting out nothing but a half-hearted meow, which the giant dragon seemingly found terrifying, and immediately retreated off the field.

"Next up, I overlay my Level 4 **Wind-Up Magician** and **Wind-Up Warrior**! The gate to another universe opens! Crawl out, god's most heinous creation! Xyz Summon, **Number 70: Malevolent Sin**! (DARK/Insect/Xyz/Effect/Rank 4/ATK 2400/DEF 1200)"

Something glistened in the dark corner of the cave. Three pairs of bright red eyes opened, looking directly at Tidal, and a giant blue spider crawled out of the shadows.

"I activate **Malevolent Sin** 's effect by detaching an Xyz Material!" - Michael snapped his fingers as the spider fired a web towards the beast on Tidal's side of the field - "Using its effect, I can banish one of your monsters until your Standby Phase!"

The web Dewloren was cocooned in wrapped itself tighter, and the blue spider watched upon its work with a certain degree of pride, as the tiger king suffocated more and more with each passing second.

"And now that's out of the way, you're wide open! **Malevolent Sin** , direct attack!" - the spider shot another web towards the opponent's field, this time straight at Tidal, lifting him up several feet in the air before slamming him down onto the ground.

 **Tidal:** LP 4000 - 2400 = 1600

"And after **Malevolent Sin** attacked, its ATK goes up by 300, and its Rank by three!"

 **Number 70: Malevolent Sin:** ATK 2400 + 300 = 2700 / Rank 4 to 7

"With that, I end my turn." - Michael said - "Draw your last card."

"That's a bit arrogant of you." - Tidal commented.

 **Turn 7 - Tidal (LP - 1600 / Hand - 0 / Field - X)**

"Go ahead then, prove me wrong." - Michael said - "But before you do anything, the **Dewloren** that was banished by **Malevolent Sin** 's effect returns to the field.

"I activate **Surface** , which allows me to Special Summon a Level 3 or lower Fish, Sea Serpent or Aqua monster from my graveyard!" - Tidal said, placing the card he just drew in his Spell and Trap Zone - "Using its effect, I Special Summon **Oyster Meister** from my graveyard!"

The humanoid oyster reappeared on his field.

"And next, I banish **Royal Swamp Eel** and **Superancient Deepsea King Coelacanth** from my graveyard! Rise once more, **Tidal, Dragon Ruler of Waterfalls**! (WATER/Dragon/Effect/Level 7/ATK 2600/DEF 2000)"

The majestic silver dragon once again spread its wings wide, and roared to the sky.

"Unfortunately, **Tidal** isn't going to stick around for long! I activate **Dewloren** 's effect, and return **Tidal** and **Oyster Meister** into my hand!" - the two monsters either side of the tiger disappeared as quickly as they appeared - "Now, **Dewloren** gains 500 ATK for each card returned!"

 **Dewloren, Tiger King of the Ice Barrier:** ATK 2000 + 2 x 500 = 3000

"That's about all I can do for now." - Tidal thought, then instructed Dewloren to attack. The tiger did so with glee, getting revenge on the spider that suffocated it a turn ago, causing its armour to crack, before its insides scattered around the cave, sticking to the walls briefly before the hologram disappeared.

 **Michael:** LP 500 - 300 = 200

"Unfortunately, I couldn't do much more." - Tidal said, signalling the end of his turn - "I'll be able to do more next turn. That is, _if_ I make it to next turn."

 **Turn 8 - Michael (LP - 200 / Hand - 1 / Field - Monsters:** Wind-Up Carrier Zenmaity, Wind-Up Rat, Wind-Up Kitten **)**

"Let's end this. I change **Wind-Up Carrier Zenmaity** to attack position" - Michael said - "Then, I activate its effect! By detaching a material, I Special Summon another **Wind-Up Warrior** from my deck!"

The orange toy warrior walked out of Zenmaity's hangar, ran down the runway and jumped off it quite awkwardly, landing face-first and kicking up a small dust cloud.

"Now, I use the effect of **Wind-Up Warrior** , targeting **Wind-Up Rat**!"

 **Wind-Up Rat:** ATK 600 + 600 = 1200 / Level 3 to 4

"Now, I overlay my Level 4 **Wind-Up Rat** and **Wind-Up Warrior**! Take flight, unprecedented master of the sky! Xyz Summon, **Castel, the Skyblaster Musketeer**! (WIND/Winged Beast/Xyz/Effect/Rank 4/ATK 2000/DEF 1500)"

A purple-feathered humanoid bird appeared, wearing a wide-brimmed hat that barely fit on its head, and a blue cape. It loaded its musket, and pointed it straight at Tidal. Judging by his reaction, this wasn't the first time he had seen the monster.

"I'm done for." - Tidal thought - "All he has to do now is shuffle **Dewloren** into the Deck and…"

"By detaching one Xyz Material from **Castel** , I change **Wind-Up Kitten** to face-down Defense Position." - Michael said, interrupting Tidal's train of thought.

"What?"

"Now, I Flip Summon **Wind-Up Kitten**!" - the orange kitten happily leapt into the air after being freed from its face-down prison - "And with that, its effect has been wound up again! Now, let's make sure I never see **Dewloren** again!"

The Kitten did the same thing as the last few times, and ran to the opponent's side of the field. It reigned supreme in the battle between kitten and tiger.

"And now, your field is wide open! **Wind-Up Kitten** , direct attack!" - the Kitten didn't even bother returning to Michael's field, instead aiming straight for Tidal after being done with Dewloren.

 **Tidal:** LP 1600 - 800 = 800

"Now, for the final attack! Ready the cannons!"

Tidal couldn't do anything but watch as the boat on Michael's field got ready for battle. The front of the boat opened, revealing a large pair of guns that usually stay hidden.

" **Wind-Up Carrier Zenmaity** , fire!"

Tidal was soon consumed by a relentless, unending barrage of shots coming from Michael's field.

 **Tidal:** LP 800 - 800 = 0

He let out a bloodcurdling scream, and the spirit of his dragon appeared behind him, joining him in his anguish. The ground beneath them started shaking, lightly at first, but it intensified

"What the hell is happening?" - Emilia ran over to Michael, still holding the duel disk she found earlier.

"I don't know." - Michael replied - "But you should get out of here, now!"

"You're not going?"

"I need to retrieve the card. I'll join you, just get out!"

Michael took a few steps towards Tidal. To his shock, the man who once looked like a hundred-year-old, was seemingly getting younger. His wrinkles were slowly disappearing, and his arms were seemingly getting stronger. The same thing seemed to be happening behind him, as the dragon behind him kept getting smaller and smaller, its tail and limbs drastically decreasing in size. In his final moments of life, Tidal looked at the Dragon Ruler in his hand, and collapsed onto the floor. The dragon, now a younger version of itself, curled up into a ball. It and Tidal were consumed by a bright blue light that shot up towards the ceiling of the cave, and disappeared without a trace, leaving no evidence that a duel even happened. Just as the two disappeared, the ground stopped shaking. The only thing that was left behind was Tidal, Dragon Ruler of Waterfalls. Michael ran over to it and took the card, then got out of the cave as quickly as he could.

* * *

"What the hell was that?" - Michael asked as soon as he stormed out.

"Do you have the card?" - Ethan rushed over to him and tried to unsuccessfully grab the card out of Michael's hands, but the latter managed to get it out of his reach.

"He literally just disappeared in front of my eyes!" - Michael continued.

"Who cares?" - Ethan asked, preoccupied by the Dragon Ruler.

" _I care!_ " - Michael insisted - "A human being can't just vanish into thin air!"

After realizing that he wasn't going to get an explanation about anything that happened, and that he wouldn't even be told that something is "classified" for the third time today, Michael shoved the card in Ethan's hands, and walked over to the boat.

"What happened in there?" - Emilia asked once he jumped on.

"You saw the start of it. After a while, he was consumed by a ball of light, and just vanished, and all that he left behind was that damn card."

"How can someone _just vanish?_ "

"Beats me. I asked him, but he didn't even want to address it." - Michael said, then quieted down because Ethan got on the boat - "He most likely doesn't know, given how none of their people beat this guy before."

The boat started moving, causing Michael to briefly lose his sense of balance.

"Also, while the whole thing was going on, he rapidly started getting younger. Both him and his dragon. Just before he disappeared, he looked younger than me."

"What do you mean, younger than you? When we first saw him, he looked ninety years old. How can…"

"I just saw a man get consumed by a giant light orb, which then flew off god knows where. At this point, the fact that he also somehow managed to reverse the aging process seems like the least weird thing about this whole scenario."

"And of course, Tetra doesn't know anything." - Emilia commented.

"Let's be fair, even if they did, they wouldn't tell us anything, would they?" - Michael replied.

"Fair point."

Nobody said anything for the rest of the boat ride, though Ethan spoke as soon as their feet touched the ground again.

"I've called for our ride back, they should be here within ten minutes." - he said, but Michael didn't even hear the end of that sentence as he stormed past him, and started climbing up the path they used to get down.

"What's with you?" - Ethan asked, painfully unaware of what was bothering Michael - "Enjoy your victory."

Michael took a few steps back towards him, and looked him directly in the eyes.

"You enjoy my victory, and be happy I didn't throw you into this river yet." - he said quietly, then walked away again - "Though if I did that, you could probably sue me for more than my entire life is worth."

"Look, only a handful of people ever knew this man existed." - Ethan told Emilia - "You two should stop worrying about what happened in there."

She rolled her eyes in reply, and walked past him, following Michael up the path. The first droplets of rain were starting to fall.

* * *

Emilia was in her hotel room, lying down on a rather uncomfortable bed, sending a text message.

"Couldn't get the card this time, there was no opportunity." - she hit send, then threw her phone on the pillow next to her. She got up, and went to close the balcony door to stop the rain from coming into the room. The raindrops from twenty minutes ago turned into a full-blown thunderstorm.

" _She left this godforsaken place unharmed._ " - she recalled Tidal's words, looking at her mother's duel disk resting on the bedside table.

"I've got no reason to believe what he said." - Emilia thought - "After all, if my mom did leave, why didn't I see her ever again? And why would she leave this?"

She took the deck out of its slot, and began looking through it.

"This brings back some memories." - she thought - "I used to duel against her all the time before I stopped playing."

She placed the deck back on the table, but noticed a discrepancy upon doing so. She picked the cards up again and started counting them.

"That's strange. There's fourteen cards in the extra deck. What the hell is missing?"

She took a closer look at the it, trying to remember anything she could from all the time she played against her mother.

"It's been five years since I last played against her, and I still remember her summoning most of these. No idea what's missing though, she must not have played it often." - she placed the extra deck on top of the main deck, and put the entire thing back into the duel disk - "All of the important Xyz seem to be here though, so whatever it was, it probably wasn't anything hugely relevant."

She laid down on the bed, and looked at the time on her phone. As soon as she picked it up, the screen lit up, signalling that she received a new message.

"Have they told you where you're going next?" - it asked.

"No." - she sent the simplest reply possible, then looked at the clock.

"Our flight is supposed to be leaving in half an hour, I wonder if…" - a knock on the door interrupted her thoughts. She got up and opened the door to find the bodyguard that was assigned to her standing in the hallway.

"I've been sent here to inform you that the flight has been delayed due to the weather." - he said - "It will most likely be leaving tomorrow morning, so our stay at the hotel has been extended. That is all."

"Thanks. I guess." - Emilia mumbled as she watched him walk away - "Guess I get to spend more time in a hotel in the middle of nowhere."

She jumped back into her bed, and its wooden frame squeaked slightly when she landed. She stared at the ceiling and listened to the sound of raindrops hitting the balcony door, punctuated by the occasional lightning strike, immediately followed by the loud rumble of thunder. The storm was getting more violent.


	6. Future

**Chapter 6 - Future**

Michael got up off the couch and went to his kitchen. The cup on his countertop was filled with a clear, green liquid. He grabbed it with one hand, and carefully threw away the teabag with the other, then went back to the living room, where the evening news were just starting. After the anchors introduced themselves, the first report started. Michael barely paid any attention to anything that was being said, and instead focused on cooling down his tea. Once he decided it was sufficiently cool, he went to take a sip, and realized immediately that he forgot to put any sugar in it. Just as he was about to get up and go back to the kitchen, a news report caught his eye.

"Reports of extreme flooding are coming in from all over Europe, causing at least a hundred reported deaths in affected countries, as well as millions in property damage. So far, Germany, Italy, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria and Croatia have declared natural disasters, with more countries likely to follow, as the rain doesn't seem to be stopping. We will update this story as we can." - the report was followed by several helicopter shots of flooded areas, before the broadcast switched back to the anchors, who proceeded to talk about something uninteresting.

"I wonder if this has anything to do with…" - Michael thought, but the thought went away as he sipped his bitter tea, before again realizing it is completely unsweetened. He attempted to go to the kitchen for a second time, but was once again interrupted, this time by his phone. He ignored it for the moment, and went to grab a bag of sugar and a spoon. Once he came back, he finally put two tablespoons of sugar into his drink, and checked his phone while stirring it.

"Your plane for Santiago de Chile is leaving in four days, and from there you'll be redirected to Punta Arenas." - the message read, and an additional one arrived as soon as Michael closed this one - "We will provide you with all the details you will need later today."

* * *

Emilia sat at the terrace of the café, looking at people passing by on the street. A man started approaching her, wearing a slightly oversized black jacket.

"It's a cloudy day, you know? You don't need those." - Emilia said, pointing at his sunglasses as he took a seat opposite her.

"So, where are you going next?" - he asked, refusing to take off his sunglasses.

"We're leaving for Chile in two days."

"Where exactly in Chile?"

"The text said Punta Arenas, but it's also possible it's somewhere in the vicinity."

"We'll try and send a person there to scout, and we'll keep them around to keep you safe in case you manage to obtain the card."

"I don't think that's going to happen that easily."

"Why not?"

"I barely have time to try and take the card away." - Emilia explained - "It's possible to do after the duel finishes, because myself and Michael are on our own at that point, but if I get caught, I'll have questions to answer."

"Do you have any plans, or are you improvising this?"

"I was thinking of going to the location before they do, and taking the card myself, but even that's near impossible since each location seems to be under constant Tetra surveillance. I could take it from Michael before he manages to take it, and pray that he doesn't notice it, but then I face the issue of being noticed by Tetra. They won't think a card just disappeared into thin air."

"And you don't think you could maybe get Michael to cooperate with you?"

"Doubt it." - Emilia shook her head - "Even if I somehow managed to explain the entire situation to him, he'd probably be too scared of Tetra at that point to do anything. And besides, it's much easier to keep a secret when I'm the only one who knows about it."

There was a slight pause in their conversation while the waitress brought Emilia a cup of green tea.

"Anything for you, sir?" - she asked politely.

"No, thanks. I'll be leaving in a moment anyways." - the man replied, and waited for the waitress to walk away before continuing the conversation - "Look, I know it's difficult to do, but we approached you with the intent of sabotaging Tetra's plans. If you can't do it, then we can't offer you our protection."

"Oh, don't worry, I can do it." - Emilia said after taking a sip of boiling tea before placing it back on the saucer and leaving it to cool - "I just need more time to work this entire thing out. Besides, there's no rush, what with the fact that there's three Dragon Rulers left."

"Well then, best of luck." - the man said, getting up from his wooden chair - "And enjoy your trip."

Emilia watched him walk away as she stirred her tea. She grabbed one of the two cheap chocolate biscuits next to it and bit into it. It was overly soft, and pretty much as expected, tasted slightly out of date. She placed it back on the saucer, and watched the steam coming from the liquid get blown away by the slight breeze that rolled through the terrace.

* * *

"So, here's how this will go." - Ethan said, walking out on the barren airport parking lot, his jacket getting blown around by the winds - "There's three cars waiting for us. It'll take us around half an hour to get to Punta Arenas. However, it is quite late…"

Ethan looked at his watch to check what the time was, before realizing he forgot to change the time on it.

"Did you know this place has its own unique time zone?" - he remarked, but nobody else found this factoid as interesting as he did - "Anyways, it's quite late, so we're staying in a hotel overnight. First thing in the morning, we're taking a boat to Porvenir, which will take about an hour and a half, maybe two, depending on the weather. From there, it's about an hour of walking to the location."

"Why are we walking there?" - Michael asked.

"It's completely inaccessible by car." - Ethan replied.

"How come?"

"Why would anyone build a road to a place where nobody ever goes?"

While Ethan was outlying their travel details, Emilia was a few steps ahead of the two of them. Her driver informed her which of the three identical black cars was hers.

"I'll see you there." - Ethan said as they all got in their vehicles.

Michael looked through the front window as they exited the airport, and the land in front of him was impressively flat, with barely a hill in sight. They drove past a military base situated right next to the airport, and past a green sign that indicated they were nineteen kilometres from their destination. Once they turned off the road leading to the airport and onto the highway, Michael immediately looked to his right. Behind a layer of short trees and dry bushes was a vast blue expanse, and the other shore was nowhere to be seen. The driver suddenly slowed down and the car jerked slightly, as they came up to roadworks and had to switch lanes. Clouds were starting to build up overhead as they went closer to their destination, and the threat of rain was growing by the minute, but that didn't stop the fishermen from doing their job, as a small white and blue fishing boat set off towards the open sea. Moments later, they drove past an advertisement, surprisingly enough in English, encouraging anyone who drives past to visit a penguin colony located on an island not too far away from here.

They drove a little further, and the layer of foliage between them and the coast started getting smaller and smaller, before disappearing entirely. As they drove down the highway, bearing down upon their destination, the only thing separating them and the ocean was a cobbled together dry-stone wall, which eventually turned into a much safer looking guardrail. The area they were driving through was scarcely populated, so there were very few cars on the road. After a short while, the ocean got further away from them once more, and the roadside trees started getting taller and wider. Their surroundings started getting more populated, with the occasional house scattered along the side of the highway, but still nowhere close to a full-blown city. The greenery around them slowly started getting replaced by the grey concrete, and power lines started coming into view. The roadside buildings were getting more and more common. They shot past a sign telling them that they were indeed going the right way, and soon enough a city was on the horizon.

Several warehouses and a boatyard later, they entered Punta Arenas, a charmingly small city where only the occasional building was more than a couple of stories tall. They continued driving along the coast for a little while longer, before all three calls pulled up in front of a hotel. Its entrance was decorated with a row of eight pillars with a faux marble finish, clearly styled to look like an ancient Greek temple. The rest of the hotel was a far more boring affair, and its exterior was dominated by glass panes reflecting the dark grey sky. The wind was now significantly slower than at the airport, though the fact that they were surrounded by buildings certainly helped in that regard. However, while the wind was getting less severe, the rain was starting to pick up, so Ethan rushed inside, while everyone calmly followed him in. Emilia immediately started looking for a place to sit, while Michael decided to stroll around the impressive looking lobby. He walked past the reception, where he overheard Ethan talking to a member of staff in Spanish, or something that roughly sounded like Spanish. He looked up at the ceiling, which was mostly black, and decorated with bright lamps in order to resemble the night sky. Right beneath the starry ceiling was a small wooden boat that not only never set sail, but seemingly existed only to serve as decoration in the lobby of a five-star hotel.

"Here." - Ethan turned around after he was done discussing things with the receptionist, and threw a room key card Michael's way, which he clumsily caught. He then walked over to Emilia, and handed her another one.

"Set your alarms, I need you both up by seven tomorrow." - he said. Immediately after Ethan was done talking, Emilia started walking towards the elevator.

"You sure you don't want to come with?" - she asked Michael while holding down the door open button, but he was already headed up the stairs, so she received no reply.

* * *

Emilia opened the door to her room, and her bodyguard walked in first, carrying her luggage.

"Thank you." - she said. He nodded in reply, and walked out of the room without saying a word. She took out her phone to check the time.

"Just under twelve hours until I have to get up." - she thought, then threw her phone onto the bed next to her, and it bounced very slightly - "Plenty of time."

The room was bathed in orange light coming from the window at the very end of it, overlooking the sea and the pier right next to the hotel. She stared at the sunset for half a minute, then turned around to look at the room. It was quite spacious and extremely well decorated, as expected, and even had a television that didn't look ten years old.

"Quite a step up from Zambia." - she thought - "Why the hell are there two beds, though? I don't need two beds."

Just as she thought that, someone else started opening the door to the room. Moments later, Michael's bodyguard walked in with his luggage, quickly followed by Michael himself, who briefly thanked the bodyguard before the latter exited the room.

"Oh, you're kidding me." - Emilia said, half surprised, half exasperated.

"Happy to see me, then?"

"One of the most powerful companies on Earth and they can't afford separate rooms."

"Come on, it could be worse." - Michael said, putting his luggage next to the bed - "You could be stuck with Ethan."

"You're not wrong." - Emilia mumbled. Michael walked straight past her and towards the end of the room.

"Not a bad view, though." - he said. The sun was almost at its nadir, and it was about to turn to night time. He turned his back to the window to see Emilia on her way out of the room.

"Where are you going?" - he asked.

"Downstairs." - she replied, closing the door behind her.

"Thanks." - Michael muttered - "I totally thought you were going to the roof."

He started taking the stress ball out of his inner pocket, but got distracted by a barely audible noise on the bed opposite his. He looked for the source of the sound, and found that Emilia's phone lit up. And as if on cue, its owner walked back into the room.

"I forgot my…" - she started saying, but Michael already grabbed her phone and started walking over to her, catching a glimpse of the message she received out of the corner of his eye. Emilia rushed back out of the room. She turned on her phone to look at the message.

"The location is completely under surveillance, as…"

The notification on the lock screen stopped there, but even that could be enough to make Michael suspicious.

"Did he see it, though?" - she wondered.

Back in the room, Michael was putting what he just read in the back of his mind, deciding not to think too much about it. He threw himself onto the bed, took out the red stress ball in his inner pocket, and started throwing it at the ceiling. He got bored of that pretty quickly, and grabbed the remote off the night stand in between their two beds. Upon turning on the TV and changing between a few channels, he couldn't find anything that wasn't in Spanish.

"Guess I'll have to find something to do."

* * *

Michael was woken up by someone knocking on the door of his room. He looked at the clock on the other side of the room.

"I was supposed to be down in the lobby ten minutes ago." - he thought, somehow managing to get out of bed - "Why didn't my alarm go off?"

He grabbed his phone to check what happened.

"Battery's dead. Of course it is."

Someone knocked on the door again.

"Coming!" - Michael shouted, scrambling through his luggage to try and find something to wear. He took off his shirt and carelessly threw it onto the bed, then grabbed a dark blue blazer from the very bottom of the suitcase and put it on. After that, he grabbed a warmer jacket, then sat back down on the bed to put on his shoes, tying the laces as loosely as possible, grabbed his stress ball, and rushed out of the room. He looked around himself, but the hallway was empty, so whoever was furiously knocking on his door gave up and went back downstairs. Michael was about to head for the elevator, but stormed back into the room upon realizing he left his duel disk in there.

Down in the lobby, Ethan was walking back and forth, nervously waiting for Michael's arrival.

"He's coming." - his bodyguard said, exiting the elevator.

"He better be."

A minute after that exchange, Michael entered the scene, hurtling down the stairs, barely managing to not fall down in the process.

"Is it so hard to wake up on time?" - Ethan asked, but Michael walked past him and towards the exit of the lobby, completely ignoring him - "The boat leaves in fifteen…"

Before he could even finish that sentence, Michael was outside. Emilia was standing at the bottom of the stairs, somewhat surprised that he made it down as quick as he did.

"You got up early, didn't you? What are you doing out here? It's freezing." - Michael asked, rubbing his hands together.

"Getting some fresh air." - Emilia replied.

"You could've woken me up."

"You're not my responsibility."

Ethan was the last to exit the lobby, and immediately headed to the right of the pair.

"Come on, we've got a boat to catch."

"Didn't you hire someone like last time?" - Michael asked - "What's the big rush?"

"I've already rented a boat to get us back from there, but the one we're taking to Porvenir is a public ferry. It was an opportunity to save some money, thought I might as well."

"Thought you saved enough money by not buying separate hotel rooms." - Emilia complained, but nobody heard her comment due to the strong winds. They spent the rest of their walk to the ferry in silence.

"So, when does this thing leave again?" - Michael asked once they were onboard the ship.

"In ten minutes." - Ethan answered.

"Wait a minute…" - Michael turned around - "The hotel's right bloody there!"

He pointed towards the glass building as if nobody else could see it.

"You were in such a great big rush, and the dock is five minutes away from the hotel!"

"It's always important to be punctual."

"Oh, shut up." - Michael interrupted Ethan. Emilia already went inside, not wanting to listen to those two bicker about nothing, though both of them followed her in as the cold wind was starting to pick up. She ordered a cup of tea at the bar, although it looked like the waiter barely understood what she was saying, then tried to find a place to sit, which wasn't exactly difficult seeing how there weren't that many people onboard.

* * *

They disembarked at a small container yard. There wasn't much in sight apart from a small yellow warehouse.

"You said we were going to a city." - Michael said.

"Porvenir is over there." - Ethan said, pointing eastwards towards a rather small city on the opposite side of the bay - "I thought we would be going over there as well, but I presume they don't want all the cars coming off the ferry to cause a traffic jam, so they drop them off here. Doesn't really matter, this is even closer to our location than I thought."

They waited for all the cars to load off the ferry before they could cross the road, then headed for the dull-looking plains behind the boatyard.

"You know how this goes." - Ethan said after five minutes of walking - "Solve the puzzle, open door, win the duel, done."

"And what if they disappear after I win the duel again?"

"Don't worry about that." - Ethan said in a far more serious tone of voice, causing an awkward silence - "Anyways, we shouldn't be too far away now."

"Where is this place anyways? It's all flat, I don't think it'd be particularly easy to hide something like that."

"Don't tell me it's in a cave again." - Emilia said.

"It's in a cave again. We've installed and concealed it with rocks and dirt, so it's completely unnoticeable from the outside. Speaking of, we should be right around there."

Ethan took a thin, sleek remote from his pocket, and pressed one of the buttons on it. Not too far away from where they were standing, a door started coming up from the ground, seemingly appearing from thin air.

"In you go." - Ethan said, staring at the cave underneath their feet - "I'll be waiting for you here."

"Alright then." - Michael wasted no time.

They didn't have to walk far, as the duel arena wasn't too deep underground.

"Let's see what's in store." - he said, hopping onto the platform, and immediately looked at one of the set cards - "Oh, Paleozoics! I haven't played them in forever! They were quite interesting, then the Frogs came along and ruined the fun. Essentially, what Paleozoics do is…"

"I know what Paleozoics do." - Emilia interrupted him - "Just get on with it."

"And speaking of things I haven't seen in a while…" - he looked at the field of his 'opponent, discovering a grand, blue and golden, mechanical-looking bird - " **Raidraptor - Ultimate Falcon** (DARK/Winged Beast/Xyz/Effect/Rank 10/ATK 3500/DEF 2000), big strong monster, unaffected by all effects, not half bad! And what's their life…"

Michael paused and blinked a couple of times, to make sure he wasn't misreading anything.

"12800 life points." - Michael mumbled - "How the _hell_ am I supposed to defeat that?"

"I'm sure you'll manage."

"I'm sure I will. Now, let's see what we have here. Five set cards, three in the extra deck, one banished. One pile of purple slush on the field. And my hand?" - he looked closer at the Equip Spell, which was one of three cards in his hand - "Oh, I see where this is going."

He checked all five of his set cards again. After a couple of minutes he spent planning out exactly what he is going to do, Michael started the turn.

"I'll start off by activating **Paleozoic Leanchoilia** , returning my banished **Paleozoic Marrella** to the graveyard." - he said quietly - "Then, by activating **Marrella** , I can send **Paleozoic Hallucigenia** from my deck to the graveyard. Now, since I activated a Trap Card, I can bring back **Paleozoic Leanchoilia** from my graveyard as a monster! (WATER/Aqua/Level 2/ATK 1200/DEF 0)"

"Where's the monster?" - Emilia asked.

"Right there." - Michael leaned over slightly so he could see the floor of the arena better, pointing at a tiny insectoid creature covered in a thick shell, with glowing blue whips coming out of the front of its body.

"That's a bug."

"No, it's a sea… thing! Anyways…" - Michael paused for just a brief second, trying to remember the line of plays he was going to do next, then snapped his fingers once he finally remembered - "Oh, right. I'll use the Level 2 **Slushy** and **Paleozoic Leanchoilia** , and Xyz Summon **Paleozoic Opabinia**! (WATER/Aqua/Xyz/Effect/Rank 2/ATK 0/DEF 2400)"

A small orange creature appeared, only slightly larger than the insectoid it replaced, with five green eyes and a segmented body.

"Now, by detaching a material from **Opabinia** , I add **Paleozoic Eldonia** from my deck to my hand! Then, I activate my set **Paleozoic Hallucigenia**!"

With no other available targets, Hallucigenia halved the stats of the only monster it could.

 **Paleozoic Opabinia:** DEF 2400 / 2 = 1200

"Then, I use the effect of **Paleozoic Marrella** in the graveyard to summon it as a monster since a Trap was activated! Then, thanks to **Opabinia** 's effect, I activate **Paleozoic Eldonia** from my hand, targeting **Opabinia**!"

 **Paleozoic Opabinia:** ATK 0 + 500 = 500 / DEF 1200 + 500 = 1700

"And, using its effect, I summon **Paleozoic Hallucigenia** from my graveyard as a monster! Next, I activate my set **Paleozoic Dinomischus** , and discard **Slushy** from my hand to the graveyard! And of course, I'll also summon **Paleozoic Eldonia** from the graveyard!"

The orange creature disappeared, and was replaced by another, even smaller one, that just looked like a tiny translucent blue blob.

"Now, I overlay my Level 2 **Paleozoic Marrella** , **Hallucigenia** and **Eldonia**! Xyz Summon, Rank 2! **Paleozoic Anomalocaris**! (WATER/Aqua/Xyz/Effect/Rank 2/ATK 2400/DEF 0)"

The creature that appeared this time looked like an oversized dark blue and black shrimp, about the size of an average dog, completely covered in dark purple spikes.

"Now, I activate my final set card, **Unbreakable Spirit**! Since I only control one monster, it gains ATK equal to the ATK of my opponent's weakest monster!"

 **Paleozoic Anomalocaris:** ATK 2400 + 3500 = 5900

"And, using its effect in the graveyard, I Special Summon **Paleozoic Dinomischus** as a monster again! And, by activating **Surface** , I Special Summon **Slushy** (WATER/Aqua/Effect/Level 2/ATK 0/DEF 0) from the graveyard!"

A small, barely visible purple disk with glowing tentacles, as well as a large blue and purple, incredibly smug pile of jelly with a straw in its head, appeared on the field to join Anomalocaris.

"Now, I overlay the Level 2 **Paleozoic Dinomischus** and **Slushy**! Xyz Summon, Rank 2, **Sky Cavalry Centaurea**! (LIGHT/Beast-Warrior/Xyz/Effect/Rank 2/ATK 2000/DEF 0)"

"I get how you'll run over the Raidraptor, but how does any of this help in bringing their LP down?" - Emilia asked.

"Well, I've got one more card in my hand, don't I?" - Michael said - "Now, I equip **Stoic Challenge** to **Paleozoic Anomalocaris** , allowing it to gain 600 ATK for each material attached to an Xyz Monster I control!"

 **Paleozoic Anomalocaris:** ATK 5900 + 5 x 600 = 8900

"Battle! **Paleozoic Anomalocaris** attacks **Raidraptor - Ultimate Falcon**! And **Stoic Challenge** has one additional effect."

 **LP:** 12800 - 10800 = 2000

"Double battle damage, easy! Now, **Sky Cavalry Centaurea** will declare a direct attack, and that's that!" - Michael finished, jumping off the platform.

 **LP:** 2000 - 2000 = 0

"Let's get going." - he said. Emilia walked over to the door on the other side of the cave, and predictably, the mechanism used to open it was exactly the same again. She placed her hand where she was intended to, and the door started opening not soon after, leaving a cloud of dust in its wake. Once it cleared, another cave revealed itself, and they were faced with a dark descent into the depths.

"Shall we?" - Michael asked, his voice echoing off the rocky walls.


	7. No Way Out

**Chapter 7 - No Way Out**

"It's so damn dark in here." - Michael said, stumbling around the walls of the cave, trying to find a way down without falling - "Careful you don't…"

Michael was interrupted by the sound of a stone rolling down the floor of the cave. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of Emilia starting to fall, and managed to grab her hand in the nick of time.

"…slip." - he finished the sentence, and paused for a few seconds while Emilia regained her balance - "Come on, we shouldn't be too far away now."

There was a faint light at the end of the tunnel. They reached their destination after a minute of stumbling around, and found themselves in a huge opening, so large that the rocky ceiling stretched into the shadows, as the other end of the cavern was nowhere to be seen. Standing opposite the entrance was a man, wearing dark green and white robes. While his age was undoubtedly taking a considerable toll on him, he still looked younger than Tidal, and had a very slightly higher-pitched voice.

"I've been expecting you." - the man said.

"What, can you see the future?" - Michael asked.

"No, I just heard the door opening."

Emilia chuckled at the man's reply, but Michael seemed rather unamused.

"Anyways, I believe you have something we want." - Michael continued.

"Indeed I do. So, let's cut straight to the chase." - the man activated his duel disk - "The name's Tempest, by the way. Since you didn't ask."

 **Turn 1 - Tempest (LP - 4000 / Hand - 5 / Field - X)**

"I'll begin by activating **Cards of Consonance**! By discarding **Dragunity Phalanx** , I draw two more cards!" - Tempest started his turn - "Then, I activate **Terraforming** and add **Dragon Ravine** from my deck to my hand!"

As Tempest activated his Field Spell, their surroundings started to change, and the ground in between the duelists started opening. Soon enough, they were separated by a canyon, and the orange light of the holographic sunset was gleaming off the rocks.

"Using **Dragon Ravine** 's effect, I discard **Dragunity Corsesca** , then add a Level 4 or lower Dragunity monster from my deck to my hand! And I'll summon the monster I just added!" - a man with mechanical wings started descending onto the field, wearing a white skirt, and covered in white, golden and chainmail armour - "Then, when it's Normal Summoned, the effect of **Dragunity Dux** (WIND/Winged Beast/Effect/Level 4/ATK 1500/DEF 1000) activates, allowing me to equip **Dragunity Phalanx** to it from the graveyard."

A small gold and blue dragon with two spears on either side of its head came out of the graveyard, and attached itself to the man's arm.

"On top of that, **Dragunity Dux** gains ATK for each Dragunity card on the field."

 **Dragunity Dux:** ATK 1500 + 2 x 200 = 1900

"Next, I use the effect of **Dragunity Phalanx** (WIND/Dragon/Tuner/Effect/Level 2/ATK 500/DEF 1100)! While it's equipped to a monster, I can Special Summon it from the Spell and Trap Zone!"

The dragon leapt from its owner's arm and started flying around the field.

"Now, I tune the Level 2 **Dragunity Phalanx** and Level 4 **Dragunity Dux**! Unearth the legendary weapon that tells the stories of life and death, love and sacrifice - the red spear of the gods! Synchro Summon, **Dragunity Knight - Gae Dearg**! (WIND/Dragon/Synchro/Effect/Level 6/ATK 2400/DEF 800)"

A grand black dragon, with red armour covering most of its body, rose from the ravine. Its head was a metallic silver, and resembled a spear, and riding the creature was a winged knight, also in black and red.

"I use **Gae Dearg** 's effect, and add **Dragunity Pilum** from my deck to my hand, then discard **Dragunity Militum** from my hand! Then, I set a card, and end my turn!" - Tempest ended as a card appeared vertically in front of him, floating face-down above the ravine.

 **Turn 2 - Michael (LP - 4000 / Hand - 5 / Field - X)**

Michael drew a card, then looked at his hand

"Not bad, I can get some damage in immediately. His face-down might be a problem, though I'll try and just play through that." - Michael thought.

"First, I'll Normal Summon **Wind-Up Rabbit**! (EARTH/Beast-Warrior/Effect/Level 3/ATK 1400/DEF 600)" - the red and white rabbit bounced around happily, with a golden wind-up key spinning in its back, though it was forced to stop hopping once it reached the edge of a cliff - "Then, using since a Wind-Up monster was Summoned to my field, I Special Summon **Wind-Up Shark** (WATER/Fish/Effect/Level 4/ATK 1500/DEF 1300) from my hand!"

A blue and white shark appeared, its edges plated in gold, and what looked like small jet engines on its fins, propelling the mechanical fish into the air.

"I use **Shark** 's effect, and decrease its Level by 1!"

 **Wind-Up Shark:** Level 4 to 3

"Let's go! **Shark** and **Rabbit** aboard, the crew is all ready! Set sail, glorious machine of war, across the deepest oceans and towards victory! Xyz Summon, **Wind-Up Carrier Zenmaity**! (WATER/Machine/Xyz/Effect/Rank 3/ATK 1500/DEF 1500)"

The familiar blue, white and red carrier arrived on the field, with Rabbit once again at the helm of the boat, while Shark swam beside it and kept an eye on the runways.

"Using **Zenmaity** 's effect, I Special Summon **Wind-Up Kitten** (EARTH/Beast/Effect/Level 2/ATK 800/DEF 500) from my deck by detaching an Xyz Material!"

The white and orange mechanical tabby jumped off one of Zenmaity runways, and strutted onto the field, walking over to the very edge of the rocky cliff they were standing on. It used its heterochromic eyes to look down into the canyon, then sat down at its very edge, wrapping its tail around itself.

"Now, I use **Kitten** 's effect, and return **Dragunity Knight - Gae Dearg** to the extra deck!" - the red dragon cowered before the might of the kitten, and disappeared off the field in an instant - "Battle! **Wind-Up Carrier Zenmaity** , direct attack! Open fire!"

 **Tempest:** LP 4000 - 1500 = 2500

" **Wind-Up Kitten** , direct attack!"

"Don't think so!" - Tempest interrupted Michael's Battle Phase - "I activate **Back to the Front** , Special Summoning **Dragunity Militum** (WIND/Winged Beast/Effect/Level 4/ATK 1700/DEF 1200) from my graveyard in defense position!"

A female soldier appeared, once again with white mechanical wings, wearing green and white armour covering her torso, and a long white skirt. She wielded a black and silver blade in her right hand, and a dagger in the left.

"Thought you might have something up your sleeve." - Michael said, halting his attack - "I set two cards, and end my turn!"

 **Turn 3 - Tempest (LP - 4000 / Hand - 2 / Field - Monsters:** Dragunity Militum, **Spells/Traps:** Dragon Ravine **)**

"Time to kick this up a notch!" - Tempest said as he drew a card - "First, I Normal Summon **Dragunity Pilum** (WIND/Dragon/Tuner/Effect/Level 3/ATK 1400/DEF 1000)! When **Pilum** is Normal Summoned, I use its effect to Special Summon **Dragunity Angusticlavii** (WIND/Winged Beast/Effect/Level 5/ATK 2100/DEF 1000) from my hand, and equip **Pilum** to it!"

Another soldier appeared, wearing leggings as well as body armour similar to the rest of the Dragunities. Its wings, however, looked far more organic, and were a reddish orange on the inside, and a sky blue on the outside, to match the rest of its attire. The small green, spear-headed dragon attached itself to the arm of the monster it just summoned, and served as a secondary weapon, next to Angusticlavii's green longbow.

"Next, I'll use the other effect of **Dragon Ravine** , and by discarding **Dragunity Aklys** , I send **Tempest, Dragon Ruler of Storms** from the deck to the graveyard!"

"There it is." - Michael thought.

"Now, I use the effect of **Dragunity Militum** to Special Summon **Dragunity Pilum** from the Spell and Trap Zone!" - the small dragon removed itself from Angusticlavii's arm, and soared into the sky.

"Now, I tune the Level 3 **Dragunity Pilum** and Level 5 **Dragunity Angusticlavii**!"

Pilum dove head first into the ravine, and a much larger, albeit very similar, dragon flew back up a few seconds after, stopping by the edge of the cliff to let Angusticlavii mount it.

"Take flight, spear of the gods, as this battle nears its end, and lead us towards victory! Synchro Summon, **Dragunity Knight - Barcha**! (WIND/Dragon/Synchro/Effect/Level 8/ATK 2000/DEF 1200)"

The dragon flew in a circle around Tempest, and spread its green and purple wings, letting out a mighty roar.

"Using **Barcha** 's effect, I can equip any number of Dragon-Type Dragunity monsters from my graveyard to it!" - three smaller dragons flew out of the graveyard, and started flying beside Barcha - "From my graveyard, I equip to it, **Dragunity Corsesca** , **Dragunity Pilum** and **Dragunity Phalanx** , then it gains 300 ATK for each equipped card."

 **Dragunity Knight - Barcha:** ATK 2000 + 3 x 300 = 2900

"Now, I use the effect of **Dragunity Phalanx** to Special Summon it! Then, I tune the Level 2 **Dragunity Phalanx** and Level 4 **Dragunity Militum**! Descend upon this plane in a flash of divine lightning, and pave the way towards destiny! Synchro Summon, **Dragunity Knight - Vajrayana**! (WIND/Dragon/Synchro/Effect/Level 6/ATK 1900/DEF 1200)"

Militum received additional armour, bright orange in colour to match the green-eyed dragon she was riding, and threw away her current weapons in favour of a large spear with a green gem in the tip of it.

"When **Vajrayana** is Synchro Summoned, I can activate its effect to equip **Dragunity Aklys** to it from the graveyard, but it won't stay for long." - Tempest raised his right hand into the air, and Militum followed suit, pointing its spear towards the sky, as the orange sun glistened off the gem - "Then, I use **Vajrayana** 's other effect, and send **Dragunity Aklys** to the graveyard, and double its ATK until the end of this turn!"

 **Dragunity Knight - Vajrayana:** ATK 1900 x 2 = 3800

"Also, if an equipped **Dragunity Aklys** is sent to the graveyard, I can destroy one card on the field!" - Tempest pointed towards the boat on Michael's field - "And I target **Wind-Up Carrier Zenmaity**!"

"Afraid not!" - Michael said, revealing one of his two face-down cards - "I activate **Zenmailstrom** , and Tribute **Zenmaity** to Special Summon **Wind-Up Snail** (WATER/Aqua/Effect/Level 2/ATK 100/DEF 2000) from my hand!"

A small pink and white snail trodded around on its rubber tracks, which were powered by an intricate system of golden gears on the inside of the machine, all linked to a golden key spinning around on its shell.

"Then, I can also Special Summon one Wind-Up from my deck whose ATK is equal to that of the summoned monster! Fly forth, **Wind-Up Honeybee**! (EARTH/Insect/Effect/Level 1/ATK 100/DEF 300)"

The small black and yellow bee buzzed around the snail that was trundling along on the ground, and followed it like a faithful companion. A gust of wind came in, and the bee attempted to put its goggles over its eyes, but clumsily dropped them, so they just hung around its neck as it rode the breeze.

"You might have stopped **Aklys** ' effect, but I'm not nearly done yet!" - Tempest said - "Now, I banish **Dragunity Militum** and **Dragunity Angusticlavii** from the graveyard! Soar to the heavens, ruler of the winds and lord of turmoil! Blow your opponents away in a display of unparalleled power! Storm forth, **Tempest, Dragon Ruler of Storms**! (WIND/Dragon/Effect/Level 7/ATK 2400/DEF 2200)"

Another dragon rose from the ravine, big enough to make every other monster on the field look tiny in comparison. The majority of its body was charcoal-black, but its limbs were a very pale shade of green, and looked like they were made of condensed wind, if such a thing is even possible. Lightning struck the ground behind Tempest's field, as his dragon swooped down upon it, kicking up a cloud of dirt.

"Battle! **Dragunity Knight - Vajrayana** attacks **Wind-Up Kitten**!" - the kitten watched helplessly as the bright orange dragon descended upon it. The mounted Militum just clipped the tiny machine with its spear, but it was enough to make the kitten fall apart into a pile of gears and other parts. Another gust of wind rolled through the ravine, making Michael briefly lose his balance.

 **Michael:** LP 4000 - 3000 = 1000

"You had to summon that thing in attack position, didn't you?" - Emilia asked.

"Yeah, it's easy to say that in hindsight." - Michael said in reply - "You got any more clever comments?"

"No, just that one."

"Next, **Tempest, Dragon Ruler of Storms** , attack **Wind-Up Snail**!"

Tempest sent a tornado towards Michael's field and towards the pink snail, who was still driving along, blissfully unaware of its surroundings in the moments before it fell apart into a pile of gears, similar to Kitten before it.

"This is the end!" - Tempest declared - "A monster equipped with **Dragunity Pilum** can attack directly, at the cost of inflicting halved damage. But with its 2600 ATK, even half will be enough to take you down. Now, at arms!"

The knight upon Barcha's back was getting ready for the attack, and raised its lance towards the sky, as it reflected the sunrays. Once the preparations were done, and the spear absorbed enough light from the sun, its wielder pointed the spear, whose tip was now glowing, towards Michael.

"Do something or we're both dead!" - Emilia said.

"Yeah, thanks for pointing that out!" - Michael replied.

"Are you two done bickering?" - Tempest asked, and immediately after a beam of light shot out of Barcha's spear and towards Michael - "Because this is the end for you."

"Don't be so sure about that!" - Michael snapped his fingers, revealing his other set Trap Card - "I activate **Heavy Storm Duster** , and destroy **Dragunity Corsesca** and **Dragunity Pilum**!"

In a twist of fate, a tornado was now headed for Tempest's field, splitting in two somewhere along the way and collecting the two small dragons.

"This will lower **Barcha** 's ATK, but more importantly, also stop you from attacking me directly. Of course, I also have to skip my Battle Phase this turn, but then again, we're not on my turn, are we?"

 **Dragunity Knight - Barcha:** ATK 2600 - 2 x 300 = 2000

"So you did have a plan after all." - Emilia said.

"Who do you take me for?" - Michael asked - "Of course I did. It's just that the plan didn't quite… go according to plan."

"If I can't attack you directly, then **Barcha** will attack **Wind-Up Honeybee** instead!" - the light was redirected towards the last monster on Michael's field, and once the beam was gone, so was the bee.

"Ah, but that's what I wanted you to do all along." - Michael said - "I just had to find a somewhat roundabout way of making you do it. When **Honeybee** is destroyed by battle, I can Special Summon a Level 4 or lower Wind-Up monster from my deck! Come out, **Wind-Up Magician**! (FIRE/Spellcaster/Effect/Level 4/ATK 600/DEF 1800)"

A purple and white humanoid robot appeared on the field, with big red grabbing claws as hands, and an oversized hat that looked like it could fall off at any moment. The only thing that didn't fit the monster's overall aesthetic was its staff, which had a metallic crescent moon on top of it, with a couple of gears inside it, but was otherwise largely carved out of wood.

"I end my turn." - Tempest said.

"Good." - Michael said, and drew another card.

 **Turn 4 - Michael (LP - 1000 / Hand - 1 / Field - Monsters:** Wind-Up Magician **)**

"First, I Normal Summon **Wind-Up Rat**! (EARTH/Beast/Effect/Level 3/ATK 600/DEF 600)" - a blue and white mouse started rolling around the field, bobbing back and forth as its small wheels took it to wherever it pleased - "Then, I use **Rat** 's effect, and change it to defense position to Special Summon **Wind-Up Shark** back from the graveyard!"

The blue and white mechanical fish happily leaped into the air as it reappeared on the field.

"Then, since the effect of a Wind-Up monster was activated, **Wind-Up Magician** allows me to Special Summon another Wind-Up monster from the deck! Come out again, **Wind-Up Rabbit**!"

The red and white rabbit was next in line of mechanical toys to appear on Michael's field.

"Using the effect of **Wind-Up Rabbit** , I banish **Wind-Up Rat** from the field, and using the effect of **Wind-Up Shark** , I reduce its Level by 1!"

 **Wind-Up Shark:** Level 4 to 3

"Now, I overlay the Level 3 **Wind-Up Rabbit** and **Wind-Up Shark**! Fire, water and wind collide to create **Leviair the Sea Dragon**! (WIND/Aqua/Xyz/Effect/Rank 3/ATK 1800/DEF 1600)"

A bright cyan dragon appeared, with brown fins running along its serpent-like body, and wings large enough to rival the smaller dragons on Tempest's field.

"Next, I detach one material from **Leviair** , and Special Summon back the banished **Wind-Up Rat** , and while I'm at it, I'll use its effect again, and change it to defense to Special Summon **Wind-Up Shark** again!"

Michael's field was now swarming with toys, as well as one dragon, but he wasn't nearly done yet.

"Next, I activate **Weights & Zenmaisures**, which allows me to pick 2 Wind-Up monsters, then you choose one of them, and the other one becomes the same Level as the monster you chose. And I pick **Wind-Up Rat** and **Wind-Up Magician**! One's Level 3, one's Level 4. Pick one."

"I don't think allowing him to make a Rank 4 is advisable." - Tempest thought.

"Oh, I do have to warn you though. If you pick a monster with the lower Level, I get to draw a card."

"I'll still go for **Wind-Up Rat**." - Tempest said.

"Alright. Now, get ready for an old friend to come back." - Michael drew a card, returning his hand size to one - " **Rat** and **Magician** aboard, the crew is all ready! Xyz Summon once again, **Wind-Up Carrier Zenmaity**!"

The glorious carrier set sail once more, this time with Magician at the helm of the ship, and Rat driving around the runway, waiting for someone to pass by.

"Then, I detach a material from **Zenmaity** , and Special Summon **Wind-Up Soldier** (EARTH/Warrior/Effect/Level 4/ATK 1800/DEF 1200) from the deck!"

A lime green soldier ran across one of Zenmaity's runways, jumped off, and landed on the field with absolutely no grace.

"Then, I use the effect of both **Wind-Up Shark** and **Wind-Up Soldier** , to increase both their Levels by 1!"

 **Wind-Up Shark:** Level 4 to 5

 **Wind-Up Soldier:** ATK 1800 + 400 = 2200 / Level 4 to 5

"Now, I overlay the Level 5 **Wind-Up Soldier** and **Shark**! "Xyz Summon, sword of the just, infused with divine power, and a blade nobody is worthy enough to wield, **Artifact Durendal**! (LIGHT/Fairy/Xyz/Effect/Rank 5/ATK 2400/DEF 2100)"

A bright dual-coloured horned apparition descended onto the field, and pointed a sword twice its size towards the sky, allowing the sun to accentuate the bright blue and red lines running all throughout the blade, the same two colours that alternated on the body of the spirit that controlled the blade.

"Now, I activate the effect of **Durendal** , and by detaching one material from it, we both shuffle our hands into the deck, and draw the same number of cards. However, since you don't have a hand, only I get this benefit."

Michael put the one card in his hand back into the deck in his duel disk, which was then promptly shuffled.

"Perfect!" - Michael thought, looking at the card he drew.

"Now, **Artifact Durendal** attacks **Dragunity Knight - Vajrayana**!" - the spirit once again raised its powerful sword, and sliced the helpless dragon clean in half, leaving its rider to fall into the ravine, not to be seen again as her mechanical wings slowly fell apart.

 **Tempest:** LP 2500 - 500 = 2000

"I'll set a card, and end my turn."

"With the end of your turn, **Tempest, Dragon Ruler of Storms** returns to my hand!" - the monstrous green dragon disappeared off the field in a gust of wind.

 **Turn 5 - Tempest (LP - 2000 / Hand - 1 / Field - Monsters:** Dragunity Knight - Barcha, **Spells/Traps:** Dragon Ravine **)**

"I might be able to finish this duel on this turn." - Tempest thought - "But it's possible that he still has something up his sleeve."

Tempest looked at Michael's face-down card, and knew that it was going to make or break this duel.

"First, I use the effect of **Dragon Ravine** to discard **Tempest** from my hand, and add **Dragunity Dux** from my deck to my hand! Then, I'll Summon it, and using its effect, I equip **Dux** with **Dragunity Phalanx** from my graveyard! And, using the effect of **Phalanx** , I Special Summon it."

"This looks all too familiar." - Michael thought.

"Now, I tune the Level 2 **Dragunity Phalanx** and Level 4 **Dragunity Dux**! Unearth the legendary weapon to tell the stories of a thousand battles - the yellow spear of the gods! Synchro Summon, **Dragunity Knight - Gae Bulg**! (WIND/Dragon/Synchro/Effect/Level 6/ATK 2000/DEF 1100)"

A white and pruple dragon soared from the ravine, and Dux took off using his wings, and flew alongside it for a while, before jumping onto its back.

"Now, I banish **Dragunity Pilum** and **Dragunity Knight - Vajrayana** from my graveyard! Rise once more, **Tempest, Dragon Ruler of Storms**!"

The green behemoth of a dragon again took its rightful place in the middle of its owner's field.

"Now, from my hand, I equip **Dragunity Divine Lance** to **Dragunity Knight - Barcha**! With this, it gains 100 ATK times its Level, and **Barcha** 's own effect allows it to gain 300 for each Dragunity card equipped to it."

 **Dragunity Knight - Barcha:** ATK 2000 + 8 x 100 + 300 = 3100

"Using the effect of **Divine Lance** , I equip **Dragunity Phalanx** from my deck to it as an Equip Card!"

 **Dragunity Knight - Barcha:** ATK 3100 + 300 = 3400

"He could win if he stopped right there." - Michael thought - "But I get the feeling he's not done."

"Using the effect of **Phalanx** , I Special Summon it!" - Tempest continued.

"I thought he couldn't resist it."

"Now, I tune the Level 2 **Dragunity Phalanx** and Level 6 **Dragunity Knight - Gae Bulg**! Shine the wings that store the holy light, and strike down your enemies with its radiance! Synchro Summon, **Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon**! (WIND/Dragon/Synchro/Effect/Level 8/ATK 3000/DEF 2500)"

A loud screech echoing through the ravine signalled the coming of a creature large enough to rival the Dragon Ruler in size. The newest dragon to descend upon Tempest's field had a long, elongated body, mostly dark purple and blue in colour, as well as no legs, making it look like more of a serpent than anything else. It was also covered in brilliant, translucent crystals from head to tail.

"Not a monster I thought I'd be seeing today." - Michael thought - "Now that's something else."

"Battle!" - Tempest declared - " **Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon** attacks **Wind-Up Carrier Zenmaity**!"

"While I'd like to stare at **Crystal Wing** some more, I'm afraid that attack is stopping right there!" - Michael said - "I activate **Quaking Mirror Force** , changing all your attack position monsters to face-down defense position."

A sandstorm headed for Tempest's field, and the mighty Dragon Ruler, as well as the equally impressive Crystal Wing, were now nothing more than horizontal face-down cards, unable to escape their prison.

"However, a monster equipped with **Dragunity Divine Lance** is unaffected by any Trap effects." - Michael continued - "So go on, you have an attack left."

" **Dragunity Knight - Barcha** attacks **Artifact Durendal**!" - Tempest's second attack connected, and the spear-headed dragon easily won the fight against a sword.

 **Michael:** LP 1000 - 700 = 300

"This isn't good at all." - Tempest thought, signalling the end of his turn - "He has way too many options on the field for me to be comfortable, though at least **Quaking Mirror Force** left me with a solid defense."

 **Turn 6 - Michael (LP - 300 / Hand - 0 / Field - Monsters:** Wind-Up Carrier Zenmaity, Leviair the Sea Dragon **)**

Michael drew a card, and checked what it was before continuing.

"Can you win this turn?" - Emilia asked - "Because I don't feel like dying today."

"Just watch me." - Michael replied - "First, I detach another material from **Wind-Up Carrier Zenmaity** , and Special Summon **Wind-Up Rat** from the deck!"

The blue and white creature drove off Zenmaity's runway at full speed, as another rat signalled it past.

"At this point, you should probably know what **Wind-Up Rat** does." - Michael said - "I change it to defense position, and Special Summon **Wind-Up Soldier** from the graveyard, and immediately use its effect!"

 **Wind-Up Soldier:** ATK 1800 + 400 = 2200 / Level 4 to 5

"Next, I use the effect of **Leviair the Sea Dragon**! Since you so kindly banished it to for **Tempest** , I Special Summon the banished **Dragunity Pilum**!"

The black and green dragon reappeared, but this time on Michael's field.

"Now, I overlay the Level 3 **Wind-Up Rat** and **Dragunity Pilum**! Souls of knights who fell on the battlefield. Revive here and now, and become the light that breaks the darkness! Xyz Summon, **The Phantom Knights of Break Sword**! (DARK/Warrior/Xyz/Effect/Rank 3/ATK 2000/DEF 1000)"

A headless knight rode onto the battlefield, holding a giant blade in one hand, and trying to tame his horse with the other. The horse itself was covered in pitch-black armour, but had no visible body, leaving its equipment to float there.

"I detach a material from **Break Sword** , and target **Wind-Up Carrier Zenmaity** and **Dragunity Knight - Barcha** using its effect, destroying them both!"

"No, no…" - Tempest mumbled as another one of his dragons reached its demise.

"Next, I Normal Summon **Wind-Up Warrior**! (EARTH/Warrior/Effect/Level 4/ATK 1200/DEF 1800)" - an orange robot appeared, walking around, trying desperately to lift its large, heavy arms into the air to show its strength, only to fail miserably - "Then, I use **Warrior** 's effect, targeting itself!"

 **Wind-Up Warrior:** ATK 1200 + 600 = 1800 / Level 4 to 5

"Now, for the finale! I overlay the Level 5 **Wind-Up Soldier** and **Wind-Up Warrior**!" - Michael declared - ""Come forth, the ultimate weapon of springs and gears, and great toy overlord! Let them fear your might, and take your rightful place in this world! Spring into action, **Wind-Up Arsenal Zenmaioh**! (WIND/Machine/Xyz/Effect/Rank 5/ATK 2600/DEF 1900)"

The brand new Wind-Up was larger than any before it, and was composed of parts from other Wind-Ups, most notably Zenmaity's runways and hull making up a large part of its lower body. The bottom of its torso was exposed, revealing the intricate golden gears that made the monster tick, all connected to several wind-up keys over its body. The machine's exterior was vibrant, and the colours ranged from red and purple to green and blue. Its right arm ended in a shiny drill, while its left arm was connected to a metal claw.

"Now, I use **Zenmaity** 's effect!" - upon activation, the machine started extending its claw towards Tempest's field.

"No, please..." - Tempest whispered.

"By detaching a material, I can destroy two Set cards on the field, so say goodbye to **Crystal Wing** and **Tempest**!" - Zenmaioh used its claw to swoop up the two face-down cards on his opponent's, and crushed them to bits, leaving Tempest wide open.

"Now, I enter the battle phase!" - Michael declared.

"Please!" - a desperate-sounding Tempest shouted at the top of his lungs - "I don't want to die!"

Michael and Emilia were both taken aback by what they just heard, and Michael briefly paused his attack.

"If I lose this duel, I die. Please, I..." - Tempest failed to finish the sentence, and fell down onto his knees, staring at the ravine below him.

"I've got to continue this attack." - Michael insisted.

"No, you can't do this." - Emilia said.

"Well, I'm sorry!" - Michael raised his voice, but was clearly distressed by the situation - "I really am. But if _I_ lose, we both die. And that's not worth it."

Michael paused again, and looked at Tempest one last time. He took off his hood, revealing his eyes, which were now bright red, and let Michael take a good look at the tears rolling down his face. Despite his earlier insistence, Michael again considered calling off the attack , before finally making his decision.

" **Wind-Up Arsenal Zenmaioh** , direct attack!" - the grand machine raised its drill towards the heavens and rushed towards Tempest's field, slamming its weapon into the ground in front of him, throwing the helpless man back due to the force of the impact.

 **Tempest:** LP 2000 - 2000 = 0

"Emilia, get out!" - Michael said, remembering what happened last time. The ravine that once separated the two duelists started fading.

"Emilia..." - Tempest muttered, and used the last of his strength to look at the two people that doomed him - "I recognize that name."

Upon hearing this, Emilia stopped heading for the exit, and instead ran straight towards Tempest.

"I told you to get out, it's going to get dangerous!" - Michael repeated.

"What did you say?" - Emilia asked Tempest, completely ignoring Michael's demands.

"Your mother..." - the dying man's speech was starting to slow down - "...said such wonderful things about you."

Once his final words passed his lips, Tempest closed his eyes. Michael grabbed the card from alongside him, and immediately ran away.

"Get away!" - Michael said - "And I mean it this time! He's going to..."

Michael didn't even manage to finish his sentence before Tempest was enveloped by a bright green orb of light, and the glowing silhouette of his dragon appeared alongside him, lighting up the entire cave. The dragon let out one final roar, and the orb started ascending towards, then through the ceiling of the cave. As soon as it was gone, the ground started to shake. Emilia stood there for a few seconds, mesmerized, but then snapped out of it and headed for the exit, following Michael out of the cave.

* * *

"How did it go?" - Ethan asked once he saw Michael approaching him. The only thing he received in reply, however, was a swift uppercut to the jaw.

"I can't do this anymore!" - Michael said.

"What was that for?" - Ethan mumbled, holding his chin to check if everything was still in its place - "What's gotten you so worked up this time?"

"I just stared into a man's eyes as he begged for mercy, right before I sentenced him to death." - Michael said - "And sorry, I can't do this anymore. I'm out."

Michael threw the card at Ethan, and started walking away. Ethan briefly checked if the card was okay, then started running after him. Once he caught up to him, he grabbed Michael by the shoulder, and he turned around to face him.

"Look, what that man found out today is that the world is ruthless." - Ethan said in a surprisingly calm, yet threatening tone - "And you're going to learn that as well if you quit right now."

"Is that a threat?" - Michael asked, seemingly not the slightest bit intimidated.

"Yes, it is." - Ethan stared into Michael's eyes - "Now, I suggest you take the time to calm yourself down, and we'll all head back to the hotel, and forget that this exchange ever happened."

Emilia walked past both of them, heading back for the harbour, and the two men followed her. She put her winter jacket back on, as the wind was starting to pick up.


	8. A Solemn Warning

**Chapter 8 - A Solemn Warning**

Emilia leapt onto her bed, at which point the luggage on one end of it slipped off the edge and fell to the floor with a loud thump. Her sister entered the room just as the bag hit the floor.

"What do you want, Olivia?"

"Em, I need to talk to you about something," her sister said.

"No you don't," Emilia mumbled into a pillow.

"Come on, I'll help you unpack."

"I don't need to unpack," Emilia continued. "The next flight is tomorrow."

"Tomorrow, really?"

"Yeah," Emilia sighed. "We're going to Nepal next, and since winter is coming, they want to avoid the possibility of bad weather."

"That just means I can't delay this," Olivia said. "So get up."

Regardless of anything her sister was saying, Emilia's face remained stubbornly buried in a pillow.

"You know, you're really insufferable sometimes," Olivia said, and went to leave the room after her attempt to talk to Emilia failed miserably.

"I know it better than anyone," she replied, then scrambled around her bed a bit, then forced herself to get up. "What do you want? What's so urgent?"

Olivia turned around, just before she closed the door, shocked that Emilia changed her mind.

"Well, I've been busy with work for the past few weeks, and I didn't get the chance to ask–" she said.

"Get to the point," Emilia interrupted her.

"I just want to know why you're doing this."

"Doing what?"

"Helping Tetra," Olivia clarified. "I mean, after all they've done to us. I never would've thought–"

"I didn't have much of a choice."

"What do you mean?"

"The reason Tetra needed me to begin with was to open up a certain lock," Emilia explained. "But it only responds to my genetic code. Or ours, I guess. If I hadn't accepted their offer, they likely would've gone after you next."

"So I would've just rejected them."

"I've come to the realization that you don't _just reject_ Tetra," Emilia got up from the bed, walked around the room without saying anything, then walked out onto the balcony and leaned against the railing, breathing in the fresh mountain air.

"Besides, I also want to know what happened to mom," she continued.

"What are you talking about?" Olivia appeared to be caught off-guard. "Didn't she–"

"Disappear in Zambia, right," Emilia said. "That's what we thought, and that's what Tetra officially stated, but truth be told, they also haven't got a clue about where she is."

"How do you know?"

"They told me."

"And you chose to believe them?"

"Just this once, yes," Emilia admitted. "I've got other reasons to think that the story we were told wasn't entirely true."

"Those being?"

"I'll keep them to myself for now," Emilia said. "However, now that you got me talking, there is _one_ other reason I'm helping Tetra. And I might need your help with something."

* * *

As Michael opened his eyes, he found himself strapped to a chair, in a bland, featureless white room, with no recollection of how he got there.

"Where am I?" he asked, but the voices behind the one-way mirror opposite him continued talking amongst themselves, and ignored Michael for the time being. "What the hell is going on?"

The speakers in the room rumbled with the sound of static, before someone finally addressed Michael directly.

"You've got nothing to worry about, we wish you no harm," a woman said over the microphone. Her voice was suspiciously familiar, yet Michael still felt like he had never heard it before. Despite her comforting tone, Michael struggled to believe her words.

"What do you want from me?" he asked, trying his hardest to not sound afraid.

"I'm going to give you a bit of advice," the woman replied. "Stop what you're doing. Stop gathering the Dragon Rulers, or there will be consequences."

"What consequences?" Michael couldn't stop himself from asking, despite the situation he was currently in.

"Allow me to repeat what I said a short while ago. We wish you no harm. The last thing I need on my conscience is your death," the woman said. "However, there will be repercussions for what you're doing. Once we're finished here, you will be let go, and free to do whatever you want. Just keep in mind that if you continue to gather the Dragon Rulers, it will lead to disaster on a scale you cannot even fathom."

"Let's say that I believe you, not that you've given me any reason t–"

"That's bold of you to say," the woman interrupted him, and sounded somewhat peeved. "You're not exactly in a position to doubt me right now."

"Regardless of what you say, I'm in way over my head at this point," Michael continued. "What do you think Tetra will have to say if I bail out on them in the middle of this?"

"That's your problem, not mine," she said. "You should never have accepted the offer in the first place."

"It's not like I knew what it would lead to," Michael argued. "And I doubt Tetra would've given up that easily."

"There's one other reason you accepted that offer."

"Huh?"

"Greed," the woman said. "Pretty much anyone will throw their moral compass straight out the window at the sight of a large enough number. I cannot imagine you are much different."

"You don't know me!" Michael insisted.

"No, I don't," the woman said. "But I very much doubt you accepted their offer out of the kindness of your heart, because anyone who would willingly help Tetra, without first being promised an increase in their bank balance, is a morally bankrupt person to begin with."

"You're saying this like you know Tetra so well."

"That's because I do. I know them better than most people ever will," the woman said. A pause followed as she briefly discussed something with another voice in the room, though Michael couldn't make out the topic of their conversation. After that wrapped up, she continued.

"We're almost done here, so let me tell you one last thing," she said. "I know that it seems difficult, but take it from me, it's not impossible to get away from Tetra. And I recommend that you find a way to do so, as soon as possible. For your own sake, if not the world's. That's all I can say to you. On the other hand, if you do carry on with what you're doing, keep in mind that this won't be the last time we meet."

The microphone turned off, and a couple of men in black suits walked into the room and started untying Michael, getting ready to escort him out of the building, only to be interrupted by the microphone turning on again.

"Oh, and one more thing," the woman said with. Her inflection changed, and her voice was much calmer, almost sombre.

"Take care of her."

* * *

As he entered his apartment, Michael barely managed to not trip over the suitcase left by the door. After somehow managing to take off his shoes, he unsuccessfully tried to beeline for his bedroom. Once he got about halfway there, eighteen hours of no sleep finally caught up to him, and he collapsed in the middle of the hallway.

Michael woke up after god knows how long, with a sore neck and a minor headache. It seemed that he regained consciousness just in time, as the phone in his pocket started vibrating. His right hand had gone numb, so he barely managed to pick the phone up without dropping it. He answered the call, and his miserable day was compounded by the sounds of Ethan's annoyingly familiar voice, which sounded more shrill than usual.

"Where the hell are you?" Ethan asked as soon as he picked up, without so much as a greeting.

Michael didn't particularly feel like replying, and simply enjoyed the brief silence. He stared at the hypnotic ceiling fan, which was turned on for whatever reason, before finally mustering up the strength to get up after realizing that the hardwood floors of his apartment aren't the best place to sleep.

"I asked you something," Ethan broke the silence.

"Indeed you did," Michael said as he embarked on his second attempt to reach his bedroom.

"Stop being snarky and get your ass over here," Ethan said. "We've already had to delay the flight by two hours."

"Wait, what?" Michael seemed genuinely confused by Ethan's words. The latter continued complaining, but Michael stopped paying attention to the conversation, and looked at the date on his phone.

"Good god, did I sleep through the entire night on the floor?" he thought, then brought the phone close to his ear again, and heard Ethan end a sentence with "irresponsible", before he took a breath and paused, again awaiting a reply, which he did luckily receive this time.

"Sorry, I completely lost track of time," Michael blurted out the first excuse he came up with. Despite the possibility of it happening again, he decided not to tell anyone, especially people involved with Tetra, that his apartment was broken into, and that he was subsequently kidnapped. As dangerous as the situation might have been, he didn't find anyone involved, Emilia included, trustworthy enough to share this information with them. On the other hand, he couldn't heed the advice of the person behind the mirror and abandon Tetra, at least not yet.

"I'll be at the airport in forty minutes, tops."

Michael drunkenly walked to the bathroom, where he tried to make himself look as presentable as possible in five minutes. Once he was done, he grabbed the suitcase that was still by his front door, and left the apartment in a hurry.

* * *

"Welcome to Kathmandu!" Ethan exclaimed as the group exited the surprisingly crowded airport, then immediately started looking for the three black SUVs that were supposed to drive them to their destination. He started walking towards the cars after noticing them on the other end of the parking lot, and Michael and Emilia both instinctively followed him.

"The plan is to get to the hotel and drop your luggage off. Also, you both have separate rooms this time."

"Thank god," Michael and Emilia said almost in unison, then looked at each other as if they were surprised the other person said the same thing. Ethan ignored their comment, and kept on talking.

"Preferably, we'd like to leave for Bhotechaur as soon as possible," Ethan said, aware that he most likely mispronounced the name of the village. "Definitely before nighttime, which gives us about an hour to get to the hotel and unpack, so just keep that in mind. In case I forgot to tell you something, I'll fill you in when we meet in front of the hotel."

As they all got into their respective cars and drove off, Michael was still struggling to stay awake despite the rest he got in the meantime. It was because of this that Michael didn't pay as much attention to their surroundings as he usually does, though most of the backdrop was obscured by the vibrant houses scattered around the claustrophobic suburban streets their cars were weaving through. Before Michael even realized it, they arrived at the hotel, at which point Ethan took it upon himself to once more remind everyone that they want to leave before sunset. Michael let the bodyguard take his luggage up to his room, as he felt too exhausted to do it himself, and figured that he wouldn't be able to resist the sight of a bed in his current condition, so he decided not to even risk it. He waited in the lobby for around half an hour until everyone sorted themselves out. Despite the fact that he was the last to arrive, Ethan still diligently reminded everyone that they're in a rush, and after a minute or two, everyone was back in their cars.

The drive to the location was somewhat more pleasant, and Michael finally got to appreciate the surrounding scenery. As they exited the city, rolling green hills started dominating the landscape as they crept towards the slowly encroaching mountains in the distance. As they got further away from the city, the roads became bumpier, and adjusted to the contours of the landscape instead of going straight through it. The surrounding peaks rose above the clouds as the road climbed higher and higher. Gardens and trees lined the hillsides, with only the occasional house in the distance. They passed by every single village they came upon, and veered far off the road in order to get to their destination, as they tend to do. The three cars parked up in what was seemingly the middle of nowhere, and completely ruined the serenity of the surroundings by their sheer presence.

Ethan started explaining something to the pair of them, but his words, or at least the few of them that Michael actually bothered listening to, blended into the background to the point where they just became noise, and before he realized it, they set off.

"Here we are," Ethan said once they reached yet another cave, which was in the middle of a forest this time. "Just be careful, the descent's quite steep."

Emilia turned on the flash on her phone and took a look at where they were going, then entered the cave, deciding she didn't want to waste any time. Michael, who was still barely aware of his surroundings, followed her in, and tried not to trip over himself.

"So, what the hell is going on with you?" Emilia asked once they were far enough away from the entrance.

"What do you mean?" Michael seemed befuddled, both by the question, and the fact that Emilia initiated a conversation.

"You know what I mean," Emilia said. "You still haven't actually explained why you were that late to the airport."

"I simply lost track of time," Michael repeated his earlier lie, hoping that it'd somehow dissuade Emilia from asking any further questions.

"Since this is you we're talking about, usually I'd believe you," she said. "But you're lying to me. Quite unsuccessfully as well."

With no way to defend his case, Michael just stayed quiet and pressed on.

"Don't get me wrong, I don't care what hot water you've gotten yourself into," Emilia continued. "I only care that you don't somehow involve me in whatever mess you've–"

 _"Take care of her."_

The mysterious woman's final message echoed through Michael's head, and merged with whatever Emilia was saying.

"Who the hell was she talking about?" Michael mumbled, completely unaware that he was thinking out loud.

"What?" Emilia turned around, and as a result nearly tripped over a stray rock. Michael seemed just as confused about what he said as she was.

"I have no idea," Michael said. "Just ignore me."

"The usual, then," Emilia replied.

They walked the rest of the way in silence, until they reached the already familiar arena with a puzzle laid out in it. Michael jumped onto one of the podiums, and started analysing both players' fields. The opponent's field contained two set cards, a decomposing corpse that was half-wrapped in loose rags, as well as a demonic giant with a skull on its chest, wrapped in torn dark purple robes. On the other hand, Michael's field contained nothing but Set Spells and Traps.

"I have no idea what most of these cards even do," Michael said while looking at his hand and field, then glanced at the life point counter opposite his own. "At this point, I'm not even surprised that the opponent has thirty-five thousand life points."

"And how do you plan to get over that?" Emilia asked.

"I'll find a wa–" Michael started saying, then slapped himself. "Oh, of course, **Endless Decay** 's ATK becomes half the opponent's life points."

"Yeah, but how will you get it on your field?"

"Don't worry about that," Michael said before starting. "I activate **Twin Twisters** , discard **Plaguespreader Zombie** , and destroy both Set cards."

A violent storm shot towards the opponent's field, and carried away their entire backrow, consisting of Solemn Strike and Quaking Mirror Force.

"Now I need to get this thing back into the deck," Michael thought, raising the furthest left card in his hand, "So in order to fix that, I activate the effect of **Plaguespreader Zombie** (DARK/Zombie/Tuner/Effect/Level 2/ATK 400/DEF 200), place a card from my hand on top of my deck, and Special Summon it from the graveyard."

A misshapen monstrosity appeared on the field, whose four limbs all came from different animals. Skin was hanging off its right leg, while both of its arms had bits of fur ripped off them, revealing the bones and rotten skin beneath. Its disgusting body was held together by stitches and rags, but even that was barely enough to hold this malformed mistake of creation together.

"Then, I Normal Summon **Samurai Skull**! (DARK/Zombie/Effect/Level 4/ATK 1700/DEF 0)" a floating skull appeared on the field, wearing a slightly rusty helmet. The skin that covered its bones was a worrying shade of blue, and the otherwise hollow eye socket had a small red eye in the middle of it. "Then, I use its effect to send **Red-Eyes Zombie Dragon** from my deck to the graveyard!"

A silhouette of a dragon briefly appeared behind Michael as he sent the card to his graveyard, then disappeared in a cloud of red smoke.

"Next, I tune the Level 2 **Plaguespreader Zombie** and Level 4 **Samurai Skull**! Synchro Summon, the hellbound horror, **Doomkaiser Dragon**! (FIRE/Zombie/Synchro/Effect/Level 6/ATK 2400/DEF 1500)"

A red-eyed corpse of a dragon appeared, whose skin was a putrid shade of grey. Its skeletal frame was holding together whatever was left of the its skin.

"When **Doomkaiser Dragon** is summoned, I can take one Zombie monster from my opponent's graveyard, and Special Summon it to my side of the field! Rise, **Il Blud**! (DARK/Zombie/Gemini/Effect/Level 6/ATK 2100/DEF 800)"

A demonic entity marched onto the field. It wore a blue and white striped uniform, and had a ball and chain around one of its feet, and because of this, its appearance heavily resembled that of a prisoner. The zipper on its uniform opened, and a giant face burst out of its chest, incessantly grinning as it looked over the field

"Then, when a monster is Special Summoned to my field from the opponent's graveyard, I can activate **Trap of the Imperial Tomb** , which allows me to destroy two cards on the field!"

A stone tomb rose from the earth beneath the players, then opened, releasing two ghastly spirits from their slumber. The ghosts enshrouded both of the opponent's monsters, and dragged them back into the earth from which they came from.

"Things are about to get good! I activate **Assault Mode Activate** , and tribute **Doomkaiser Dragon**! And since it left the field, the monster **Doomkaiser Dragon** summoned goes with it!" Michael declared. "Now, rise from the infernal depths, the eternal entity, **Doomkaiser Dragon/Assault Mode**! (FIRE/Zombie/Effect/Level 8/ATK 2900/DEF 2000)"

The undead dragon received an upgrade, as various bits of metallic armour flew in and attached themselves to its tail, wings and torso.

"When Special Summoned, **Doomkaiser Dragon/Assault Mode** allows me to Special Summon any number of Zombie-Type monsters to my field, from either player's graveyard, but their effects are negated! Rise from the dead, **Revived King Ha Des** (DARK/Zombie/Synchro/Effect/ATK 2450/DEF 0), **Red-Eyes Zombie Dragon** (DARK/Zombie/Effect/Level 7/ATK 2400/DEF 2000) and **Doomkaiser Dragon**!"

A red-eyed black dragon appeared, its entire body surrounded in bright blue flames. Either side of it were the purple-robed demon king, as well as the regular Doomkaiser Dragon.

"Next, I activate **Autonomous Action Unit** , allowing me to pay 1500 life points, and Special Summon a monster from the opponent's graveyard! Approach, **Endless Decay**! (DARK/Zombie/Effect/Level 5/ATK ?/DEF 0)"

 **Michael:** LP 3200 » 1700

The rotting mummy, loosely covered in bandages, reappeared on the field, this time under Michael's control.

"And, when **Endless Decay** is summoned, its ATK becomes equal to half the opponent's life points!"

 **Endless Decay:** ATK 17650

"Battle!" Michael declared. " **Revived King Ha Des** , **Red-Eyes Zombie Dragon** and **Doomkaiser Dragon** , as well as **Doomkaiser Dragon/Assault Mode** all attack directly!"

 **LP:** 35300 » 32850 » 30450 » 28050 » 25150

"And now, **Endless Decay**!" a swarm of locusts and flies came from underneath the undead monster's bandages, and flew straight towards the opponent, despite the fact that their opponent was an empty pedestal on the other side of the arena.

 **LP:** 25150 » 7500

"Next, I activate the Quick-Play Spell, **Assault Overload**!" Michael continued. "With its effect, I tribute **Doomkaiser Dragon/Assault Mode** , and inflict damage to both players equal to its Level times two hundred!"

 **Michael:** LP 1700 » 100

 **LP:** 7500 » 5900

"Next I activate **Flash Fusion** from my hand, and use **Red-Eyes Zombie Dragon** and **Doomkaiser Dragon** as Fusion Materials!"

A bright portal opened behind Michael, and both dragons took off from the field and flew into it, and the silhouette of an even larger beast appeared in the light.

"Break down the door of Hades and rise, unyielding ruler of the undead! Fusion Summon, **Dragonecro Nethersoul Dragon**! (DARK/Dragon/Fusion/Effect/Level 8/ATK 3000/DEF 0)"

Out of the portal emerged an even bigger dragon, with a long serpentine body made of crimson flesh and grand grey wings which cast a shadow across the entire playing field.

" **Dragonecro Nethersoul Dragon** attacks directly!" Michael declared as the demonic dragon opened its mouth and released a stream of blood on the field.

 **LP:** 5900 » 2900

"And now for the finale, I activate **Assault Revival**!" Michael revealed his final set card. "By banishing **Assault Mode Activate** from my graveyard and destroying all monsters I control, I can Special Summon **Doomkaiser Dragon/Assault Mode** back from the graveyard, at the cost of its effects being negated!"

Giant hands came out of the ground beneath all of Michael's remaining monsters and dragged them to their graves, only for the armoured zombie dragon to reappear on the field.

" **Doomkaiser Dragon/Assault Mode** , direct attack!" Michael declared the final attack, and the dragon obeyed his order.

 **LP:** 2900 » 0

"Alright, let's get this over and done with," Emilia said as she watched the life point counter hit zero. She waited for Michael to come down, only to find him on his knees once she looked up to where he was once standing.

"Take this," Michael said, and tossed Emilia his duel disk.

"What are you doing?" Emilia sounded somewhat panicked. "This isn't my job! Get down here and we'll–"

"I don't think we will," Michael started breathing heavily, and propped himself up using his arms, to no avail since he collapsed just moments later.


	9. Iron

**Chapter 9 - Iron**

The heavy stone door opened before Emilia, revealing a dimly lit cave behind it, and kicking up a cloud of dust as it did so. On the other end of the room was a figure, shrouded in robes and with a hood covering their face, much like the two previous guardians.

"I was expecting you, Emilia," she said, taking off her hood and revealing the long black hair beneath it. "I recommend turning back while you have the chance, unless you want–"

"If I wanted to turn back, I would've already done it."

"Well, what is your reason for continuing? Given that you're not in this for anyone but yourself, the only reason that comes to mind is…"

Redox paused and smiled, letting the silence hang for a few moments before continuing.

"You want to know what happened to your mother."

Emilia nodded to confirm Redox's suspicions, but remained silent.

"You obviously know what happens to you if you lose, so wouldn't your dear mother be sorely disappointed if you fell here?"

"She would," Emilia said. "But she's got nothing to worry about."

"Well," Redox shrugged, and activated her duel disk. "I expected nothing less."

 **Turn 1 - Redox (LP - 4000 / Hand - 5 / Field - X)**

"I set a monster," she said, and a horizontal face-down card appeared in front of her. "Then, I set one card, and end my turn."

"That's a slow start, for how confident you are," Emilia said, and drew a card.

 **Turn 2 - Emilia (LP - 4000 / Hand - 5 / Field - X)**

"Then again, it's not like my hand is much better," she thought. "Why would you even play this?"

She picked up the leftmost card from her hand, and placed it on the duel disk.

"I Normal Summon **Wind-Up Juggler**! (WIND/Psychic/Effect/Level 4/ATK 1700/DEF 1000)"

A small green and white machine hopped onto the field, bobbing up and down on the golden spring attached to the bottom of it. Using its claw grabber hands, it juggled five transparent spheres with gears of various colours spinning around inside them.

"Then, I activate **Wind-Up Factory**!"

A small tunnel appeared in one of the cave's walls, and a conveyor belt shot out of it. Below the end of the conveyor belt was a small metal tin, made to store all the discarded parts.

"Battle!" Emilia declared. " **Wind-Up Juggler** attacks your set monster!"

Juggler shot its five plastic balls towards the face-down card, one after another, but they were all blocked by a heavy metallic shield. Out from the dust arose a robotic, bulky suit of armour, operated by what appeared to be a set of gears with a pair of googly eyes attached to them.

 **Emilia:** LP 4000 » 3800

"When **Geargiarmor** (EARTH/Machine/Effect/Level 4/ATK 1100/DEF 1900) is flipped face-up, I can add a Geargia monster from my deck to my hand," Redox said. "I add **Geargiaccelerator** to my hand."

"At this point, I activate **Wind-Up Juggler** 's effect, which destroys any monster it battled after damage calculation," Emilia said, and the spheres that bounced off the opponent's armour exploded, reducing the robotic creation to a pile of scrap metal. "And since the effect of a Wind-Up monster was activated, I use the effect of a **Wind-Up Factory** , and add **Wind-Up Shark** from my deck to my hand."

"I activate **Geargiagear**!" Redox interrupted Emilia's turn. "I Special Summon **Geargiano** (EARTH/Machine/Effect/Level 3/ATK 500/DEF 1000) and **Geargiano Mk-III** (EARTH/Machine/Effect/Level 3/ATK 1000/DEF 1000) from my deck, and increase both their Levels by one!"

Two sets of colourful gears appeared, one predominantly white, green and red, throwing up its fist in the air, and the other blue and orange, waving its hand through the air. Both of them had a pair of gear-shaped googly eyes.

 **Geargiano:** Level 3 » 4

 **Geargiano Mk-III:** Level 3 » 4

"Then, the effect of **Geargiano Mk-III** activates, and I Special Summon **Geargiarmor** back from the graveyard!"

The heavy suit of armour reappeared on the field, and the small robot that revived it jumped into the the slot especially designed for it, and began piloting it with little success.

"I set a card, and end my turn," Emilia said. "Go ahead."

 **Turn 3 - Redox (LP - 4000 / Hand - 4 / Field - Monsters:** Geargiano, Geargiano Mk-III, Geargiarmor **)**

"I'll start by overlaying the Level 4 **Geargiarmor** and **Geargiano Mk-III** , and Xyz Summon **Gear Gigant X**! (EARTH/Machine/Xyz/Effect/Rank 4/ATK 2300/DEF 1500)"

A large robot, composed of several green and red gears, stepped on the field. The hundreds of gears powering its limbs made a pleasant clicking noise as they spun around, allowing the robot to move.

"Since I control a Geargia monster, I can Special Summon **Geargiaccelerator** (EARTH/Machine/Effect/Level 4/ATK 1400/DEF 800) from my hand in defense position," she continued, and a blue and yellow, open-wheeled racing car drove onto the field, driven by a small robot similar to the one that used to pilot Geargiarmor. "Then, I overlay the two Level 4 **Geargiano** and **Geargiaccelerator**! An underwater beast merges with infernal flames! Xyz Summon, **Lavalval Chain**! (FIRE/Sea Serpent/Xyz/Effect/Rank 4/ATK 1800/DEF 1000)"

A blaze appeared on the field, and out of it burst a serpent, covered in flames. One half of the creature was partially covered in armour, and largely retained its natural green colour, whereas the other half had turned black, and looked like the surface of a lava lake. Its back turned into magma, with islands of long dead, charcoal-like skin floating in it.

"Then, I activate the effect of **Gear Gigant X**!" Redox continued. "By detaching a material from it, I add **Geargiano Mk-II** from my deck to my hand, and immediately Normal Summon it!"

The second Geargiano model was the same as the other two, and the only thing that differed were its colours. It was composed of two larger golden gears on the outside, sandwiching several blue and red ones in the middle.

"When **Geargiano Mk-II** (EARTH/Machine/Effect/Level 3/ATK 1000/DEF 500) is Normal or Flip Summoned, I can Special Summon a Geargia monster from my hand or graveyard! Come back, **Geargiano**!"

"With **Lavalval Chain** on the field, I can see where this is–"

"I activate the first effect of **Lavalval Chain**!" Redox interrupted Emilia's thought process. "I detach one material from it, then send **Glow-Up Bulb** (EARTH/Plant/Tuner/Effect/Level 1/ATK 100/DEF 100) from my deck to the graveyard! Then I activate its effect, and Special Summon it by sending the top card of my deck to the graveyard!"

A small white flower grew out of the ground, glowing slightly. Part of its root could be seen above ground, revealing a somewhat unsettling purple eye embedded in it.

"Now, I tune the Level 1 **Glow-Up Bulb** , and the Level 3 **Geargiano** and **Geargiano Mk-II**! Synchro Summon, **Karakuri Shogun mdl 00 "Burei"** (EARTH/Machine/Synchro/Effect/Level 7/ATK 2600/DEF 1900)!"

A puppet-like robot appeared, its worn red cape fluttering in the wind. The metal that covered large parts it was fashioned to look like wood. On top of its red head was a helmet with two large, sharp horns sticking out either side of it, decorated with bronze gears.

"When **Burei** is Synchro Summoned, its effect activates, allowing me to Special Summon a Karakuri monster from my deck! Come forth, **Karakuri Watchdog mdl 313 "Saizan"** (EARTH/Machine/Tuner/Effect/Level 4/ATK 600/DEF 1800)"

A mechanical dog leapt onto the field. Its body was made of wood strengthened by metal welded around the edges to stop the whole contraption from falling apart.

"Next, I banish **Glow-Up Bulb** and **Geargiarmor** from my graveyard! Ascend from the depths, ruler of the land and lord of mountains! The earth trembles beneath you with every step you take! Demolish those who oppose you, leaving devastation in your wake! **Redox, Dragon Ruler of Boulders**! (EARTH/Dragon/Effect/Level 7/ATK 1600/DEF 3000)"

The ground started shaking, heralding the arrival of a new Dragon Ruler. Surging from the ground came a stone-covered dragon, and leapt as high as it could before coming back down. The floor violently shook as the dragon's massive weight landed, kicking up stones that flew all across the cave, miraculously missing both players, and shattering into smaller rocks as they hit the walls. Redox was probably the most imposing of the Dragon Rulers so far, with a rocky mace on the end of its tail, and horns that stopped abruptly, as if they were cut off in battle.

"Now, I'll overlay the Level 7 **Redox, Dragon Ruler of Boulders** and **Karakuri Shogun**! Xyz Summon, **Number 11: Big Eye**! (DARK/Spellcaster/Xyz/Effect/Rank 7/ATK 2600/DEF 2000)"

A smooth white cone appeared on the field, with a large yellow eye close to the top of it, slowly moving around to observe the situation on the field. Around it floated a yellow ring with the number eleven on it.

"I activate **Big Eye** 's effect and detach a material from it, then target and take control of **Wind-Up Juggler**!"

"I activate **Zenmailstrom**!" Emilia interrupted Redox's play. "I tribute **Juggler** , and Special Summon **Wind-Up Dog** (EARTH/Beast/Effect/Level 3/ATK 1200/DEF 900) from my hand, and **Wind-Up Warrior** (EARTH/Warrior/Effect/Level 4/ATK 1200/DEF 1800) from the deck!"

Opposite the wooden dog on Redox's field appeared a bright blue toy dog, powered by a golden wind-up key in its back, joyfully hopping around. Next to it was an orange warrior whose heavy hands dragged its whole body to the ground.

"And since its target is no longer on the field, **Big Eye** 's effect cannot resolve properly," Emilia said, much to her opponent's dismay.

"Battle!" Redox declared. " **Lavalval Chain** attacks **Wind-Up Dog**!"

The burning serpent shot a stream of fire towards the dog carelessly hopping around Emilia's field, only for it to be burnt to a crisp.

"Next, **Gear Gigant X** attacks **Wind-Up Warrior**!"

The multicoloured robot swung its steel fist towards Warrior, who tried desperately to defend from the attack, an admirable attempt at not being scattered into pieces which ultimately failed.

"Finally, **Karakuri Watchdog** attacks directly!"

The wooden dog focused its three eyes on Emilia, and started running towards her. While she managed to dodge the first attack, Watchdog gracefully turned around and tried again, this time managing to tackle Emilia, who managed to get back on her feet quickly thereafter.

 **Emilia:** LP 3800 » 3200

"Do you still feel like carrying on?" Redox asked.

"What a pointless question."

"You know, as soon as Tetra's mission started, we were specifically told not to harm you."

"And who told you that?" Emilia asked a question that was never to be answered.

"However, nobody ever told us what to do if you came to us," Redox continued. "So I'll use that as an excuse when you end up dead once this duel is finished."

"In your dreams," Emilia said.

"My dreams are far more interesting than this duel," Redox replied. "Regardless, I cannot beat you this turn, so you get another opportunity to impress me. But, before I end my turn, I activate **Return of the Dragon Lords** , and Special Summon **Redox, Dragon Ruler of Boulders** from the graveyard!"

The imposing dragon reapeared on the battlefield, this time in a less destructive manner, as it slowly dug its way through the floor and emerged in defense position.

"I set one card, and end my turn," she finished.

 **Turn 4 - Emilia (LP - 3200 / Hand - 2 / Field - Spells/Traps:** Wind-Up Factory **)**

"I'll start by activating **Zenmailfunction** ," Emilia said, and the bright blue dog rose from the dead not long after it was turned into molten metal, although the key on its back wasn't turning. "And since I summoned a Wind-Up monster, I can Special Summon **Wind-Up Shark** (WATER/Fish/Effect/Level 4/ATK 1500/DEF 1300) from my hand!"

The mechanical rocket-powered shark flew onto the field, clumsily landed, and then calmed down, bobbing up and down as the golden key in its back spun around.

"Since **Shark** 's effect was activated, I use **Wind-Up Factory** 's effect to add **Wind-Up Magician** (FIRE/Spellcaster/Effect/Level 4/ATK 600/DEF 1800) from my deck to my hand, then I Normal Summon it!"

A purple and white humanoid robot joined its two animal companions, with an oversized chunk of metal on top of its head serving as a hat, and a wooden staff it held with both hands.

"Then I activate **Wind-Up Shark** 's effect, and decrease its Level by 1."

 **Wind-Up Shark:** Level 4 » 3

"Then, since the effect of another Wind-Up monster was activated, I use the effect of **Wind-Up Magician** , and Special Summon another **Wind-Up Magician** from my deck!"

As one Magician's key stopped spinning, another copy of it instantly popped up on the field.

"Next, I overlay the Level 3 **Wind-Up Dog** and **Wind-Up Shark**!" the shark took to the sky using the rockets on its fins, and the dog attempted to follow it, but ended up performing a rather unimpressive jump, then fell flat on its face. Nevertheless, both of them, both of them eventually turned into orbs of light, one blue and the other grey.

" **Dog** and **Shark** aboard! Set sail, **Wind-Up Carrier Zenmaity**! (WATER/Machine/Xyz/Effect/Rank 3/ATK 1500/DEF 1500)"

An already familiar sight emerged on the field. A red and yellow boat, with a pair of runways on it, both coming out of a blue hangar on the end of the machine. The shark swam alongside the boat, while the dog was in the captain's room, and utterly confused about what it was supposed to do.

"I detach one material from **Wind-Up Carrier Zenmaity** , and Special Summon **Wind-Up Soldier** (EARTH/Warrior/Effect/Level 4/ATK 1800/DEF 1200) from the deck, at which point the effect of the second **Wind-Up Magician** activates, and I Special Summon **Wind-Up Rat** (EARTH/Beast/Effect/Level 3/ATK 600/DEF 600) from the deck!"

A pair of toy creatures appeared, one a lime-green humanoid that made clunking noises as it moved around, and the other a white and violet rat, which used its wheels to stroll around rather more gracefully than Soldier.

"Next, I overlay the two Level 4 **Wind-Up Magicians** to Xyz Summon **Number 70: Malevolent Sin**! (DARK/Insect/Xyz/Effect/Rank 4/ATK 2400/DEF 1200)"

A terrifying giant blue spider crawled up from the ground, then made a home for itself in the corner of the cave, where its red eyes, adapted to the dark, scouted the terrain beneath for any potential prey.

"Now, I activate the effect of **Wind-Up Rat**! By changing it to defense position, I Special Summon **Wind-Up Shark** from the graveyard in defense position! Then, I activate the effects of both **Shark** and **Soldier** , increasing both their levels by 1!"

 **Wind-Up Shark:** Level 4 » 5

 **Wind-Up Soldier:** Level 4 » 5 / ATK 1800 » 2200

"Finally, I overlay the Level 5 **Shark** and **Soldier**! Xyz Summon, staunch defender of the seas, **Shark Fortress**! (DARK/Fish/Xyz/Effect/ATK 2400/DEF 1800)"

An olive-green mechanical shark burst onto the field. The bottom half of it was a large cylindrical hangar, just dark enough so that it would be impossible to make out what was in it.

"I activate the effect of **Malevolent Sin**!" Emilia continued. "By detaching one material from it, I banish **Redox** until your Standby Phase."

The blue spider shot a web towards the stone dragon. Despite its inferior size, it managed to get the behemoth completely wrapped up in its trap.

"Then, by detaching a material, I use the effect of **Shark Fortress** , allowing **Malevolent Sin** to attack twice this turn! And with that, we'll battle!"

The spider hidden in the darkness shot another web towards Redox's field, this time enveloping the colourful robot in its web. It continued tightening its grip until the machine fell apart.

 **Redox:** LP 4000 » 3900

"Since **Malevolent Sin** attacked, I activate its effect to increase its ATK by 300, and Rank by 3!"

 **Number 70: Malevolent Sin:** Rank 4 » 7 / ATK 2400 » 2700

"Since **Gear Gigant X** left the field, I use its effect to Special Summon **Geargiano** from my graveyard!" Redox said.

"Don't forget **Malevolent Sin** can attack twice, so let's take care of **Big Eye**!"

The spider repeated its now signature attack, and wrapped the giant eye in its sticky web, tightening its grip until the creature burst.

 **Redox:** LP 3900 » 3800

 **Number 70: Malevolent Sin:** Rank 7 » 10 / ATK 2700 » 3000

"Next, **Shark Fortress** attacks **Lavalval Chain**!"

The lights on the side of the mobile fortress' hangar lit up, signalling the start of the launch procedure. After a couple of seconds, a pair of missiles launched towards the burning serpent.

 **Redox:** LP 3800 » 3200

"And to finish off, I'll have **Zenmaity** destroy **Geargiano**!"

The dog that was cluelessly stumbling around the captain's cabin accidentally jumped onto the ship's controls, releasing a barrage of smaller missiles upon the defenceless googly-eyed robot.

"I set a card," a face-down card appeared in front of Emilia as she ended her turn.

"Getting rid of that field in one turn," Redox said. "You're not half bad. Such a great shame that you had to duel me here."

"Are you still so sure you're going to win?" Emilia asked.

"Oh, not at all," Redox replied. "I have no idea if I can win this."

"Then what–"

"I don't care if I win or lose here," she continued. "Ever since I swore to protect this place, I knew this day would come eventually, and to be honest, I'm glad you came around. After almost two hundred years, I was starting to grow tired of all this."

"Then allow me to ask you the same question you asked me earlier," Emilia said. "What is your reason for continuing?"

"Despite what I've said, I've still sworn to protect the Dragon Ruler with my life," Redox answered. "I don't intend on backing down."

"Why even bring it up in the first place, then?" Emilia asked. "I'm not exactly interested in your life story."

"I brought it up hoping that you'd listen, but that hope was misplaced, it seems. Nobody ever does. Nobody except your mother. In the two centuries I've been holed up here, she was the only person to ever ask us _why_ we were protecting these cards."

"I never asked because I don't care."

"Then I guess you're nothing like her."

"I don't need to be like her, nor could I ever be," Emilia said. "I only want her back."

"And you're hoping that this ridiculous quest is going to accomplish that?"

"And what if I am?"

"Then you're sorely mistaken," Redox said. "Trust me, she found it difficult to leave you behind, but she left for a reason. She left to fight for something far greater than her family's happiness."

"Then I guess what you said was right. I'm nothing like her, because I'd never be selfish enough to–"

"Who are you calling selfish?" Redox was getting worked up. "Leaving you was the most selfless thing she could've done, but here you are, calling her selfish for having the conviction to try and save what's left of this world, instead of staying and making sure that two brats in a country house can be happy."

Emilia took a step back, partially because of the intensity of Redox's outburst, and partially because of what she just heard.

"Since when was all this about saving the world?" she asked.

"It's always been about that," Redox said. "It's been happening for weeks now. You just haven't cared to look, because at the end of the day, all that matters in your life is you."

"How dare you suggest–"

"Haven't I already said that nobody ever cares to ask?" Redox continued her diatribe. "If you just asked any of us why we're defending these cards with our lives, maybe you would be aware that something far more important than your family life is going on, but not even after all this did you consider that possibility."

She took a couple of deep breaths to calm down, then continued speaking in a much more subdued tone of voice.

"It's too late for questions anyways," she continued, drawing a card. "Sooner or later you'll face the consequences. Now, let's end this."


	10. Rust

**Chapter 10 - Rust**

 **Turn 5 - Redox (LP - 3200 / Hand - 1 / Field - Monsters:** Karakuri Watchdog mdl 313 "Saizan" **)**

"First, since it was banished by the effect of **Malevolent Sin** last turn, **Redox, Dragon Ruler of Boulders** returns to my field during the Standby Phase," Redox said. "Then, I Normal Summon **Geargianchor**! (EARTH/Machine/Effect/Level 4/ATK 1800/DEF 500)"

A bright green anchor slammed into the floor, kicking up dust. It was connected to a small, multi-coloured oblong submarine, which floated above the place where it just anchored itself.

"Now, I overlay the Level 4 **Karakuri Watchdog** and **Geargianchor**! Take flight, unprecedented master of the sky! Xyz Summon, **Castel, the Skyblaster Musketeer**! (WIND/Winged Beast/Xyz/Effect/Rank 4/ATK 2000/DEF 1500)"

The purple-feathered bird, covered in blue and white garments and armed with a musket, took to the heights before soaring back down onto the field.

"I activate **Castel** 's effect, and by detaching two materials from it, return **Number 70: Malevolent Sin** to your extra deck!" Redox continued. "Then, I activate **Geargia Change** , and Special Summon **Geargiano** , **Geargiano Mk-II** and **Geargiano Mk-III** from my graveyard! Then, immediately after **Geargia Change** resolves, I have to Xyz Summon an Xyz Monster, by using all the summoned monsters as materials!"

The three smaller robots all combined into one larger machine. A large, somewhat clumsy-looking robot, wielding a gun in one arm and a gear-shaped shield in the other, painted in a myriad of colours.

"Xyz Summon, **Geargiagear Gigant XG**! (EARTH/Machine/Xyz/Effect/Rank 3/ATK 2500/DEF 1300)" Redox said, and immediately afterwards entered her Battle Phase. "I attack **Shark Fortress** , and at this time, activate the effect of **Geargiagear Gigant XG**! When a Machine monster attacks, or is being attacked, I can detach a material from it, and negate the effects of all cards you control during that battle!"

XG pointed the barrel of its gun towards the mechanical shark on Emilia's field. Its bullets hit the missiles stored in the hangar below the cockpit, causing the entire ship to explode dramatically. Debris rained from the sky, and molten pieces of scrap metal bounced off the ground at high speed, just barely missing the other monsters.

 **Emilia:** LP 3200 » 3100

"Then, **Castel, the Skyblaster Musketeer** attacks **Wind-Up Carrier Zenmaity**!"

The projectile fired from Castel's musket headed straight for the captain's cabin of the colourful carrier, hitting the toy dog that was piloting the ship as best it could, causing the vessel to steer of course and into the nearest wall.

 **Emilia:** LP 3100 » 2600

"I set a card and end my turn," Redox said. "Now let's see if you can end this."

"She's left me with one too many cards on the field," Emilia thought. "That set card is probably meant to stop me, because this just seems too easy otherwise."

 **Turn 6 - Emilia (LP - 2600 / Hand - 1 / Field - Monsters:** Wind-Up Rat, **Spells/Traps:** Wind-Up Factory, 2 set **)**

"I activate **Legendary Wind-Up Key** , which changes all Wind-Up monsters on my field to face-down Defense Position," Emilia said. "Then, I Flip Summon **Wind-Up Rat**!"

The white and blue toy rat briefly disappeared, but quickly hopped back onto the field, with the golden key in its back now happily spinning.

"I use **Wind-Up Rat** 's effect," she continued. "I change it to Defense Position, and Special Summon **Wind-Up Carrier Zenmaity** from the graveyard! And, since the effect of a Wind-Up monster was activated, I use **Wind-Up Factory** 's effect to add **Wind-Up Kitten** from my deck to my hand."

The large multi-coloured ship appeared on the field once again, but was largely useless without any crew on board.

"Next, I Normal Summon **Wind-Up Kitten**! (EARTH/Beast/Effect/Level 2/ATK 800/DEF 500)" the playful orange kitten appeared on the field, ready to wreak havoc despite its innocent appearance. "Using **Kitten** effect, I return **Redox, Dragon Ruler of Boulders** to the hand!"

Another terrifying dragon fell victim to the cat's ruthless attacks, despite the vast difference in size.

"Next, I activate **Zenmaiday** , and immediately activate its effect, allowing me to attach **Wind-Up Rat** to **Zenmaity** as material," Emilia continued. "Then, I detach one material from **Wind-Up Carrier Zenmaity** , and Special Summon **Wind-Up Snail** (WATER/Aqua/Effect/Level 2/ATK 100/DEF 2000) from the deck!"

Powered by a spinning golden key in its back, the purple and white snail rode around on its tracks. It kept circling the field, slowly and unsure of what exactly it was doing.

"I activate **Wind-Up Snail** 's effect, which allows me to return a set card you control to the hand," Emilia pointed to the only applicable target on Redox's field, and she promptly revealed the card Emilia was afraid of.

" **Karakuri Trick House** ," she said. "You went through all that effort to get rid of something that was useless to me to begin with."

"I had no way of knowing that."

"Of course you didn't," Redox replied. "But I already told you that I'm unsure if I can win. If you gambled on the likely possibility that my set card was a bluff, you wouldn't have had to go through all this effort to get rid of it."

"It doesn't matter, though, does it?" Emilia asked. "As long as I win."

"You're right, of course. I'm just glad I was able to be a thorn in your side for as long as I have," Redox smiled. "But it ends now, doesn't it?"

Emilia stared at Redox in silence, shocked at how defeated she seemed to be. Regardless, she carried on without replying, not wishing to drag the duel on for any longer than necessary.

"I overlay the Level 2 **Wind-Up Kitten** and **Wind-Up Snail**! Xyz Summon, the cursed spear of rebellion entombed in darkness, **The Phantom Knights of Cursed Javelin**! (DARK/Warrior/Xyz/Effect/Rank 2/ATK 1600/DEF 0)"

A skeletal warrior appeared, shrouded in dark crimson robes, and with the occasional bit of black metallic armor covering its legs and torso. It wielded a shield, which has a skull motif on it, in one hand, and a long spear in the other.

"I detach a material from **Cursed Javelin** , and target **Geargiagear Gigant XG** ," Emilia said. "With this, its effects are negated, and its ATK becomes 0 until the end of this turn."

 **Geargiagear Gigant XG:** ATK 2500 » 0

"Battle!" she declared. " **Wind-Up Carrier Zenmaity** , attack **Geargiagear Gigant XG**!"

The boat shot a barrage of missiles towards the robot that had no chance of resisting the onslaught.

 **Redox:** LP 3200 » 1700

"Now, I activate the second effect of **Zenmaiday**! By sending it to the graveyard, I can rank up **Wind-Up Carrier Zenmaity** ," Emilia said. "Rank Up, Xyz Evolution! Come forth, **Wind-Up Zenmaister** (EARTH/Machine/Xyz/Effect/Rank 4/ATK 1900/DEF 1500)!"

Zenmaister's top was made up of a white and purple torso, with an undersized head on top of it, and to contrast that, a pair of oversized arms attached to each shoulder. Its lower half looked considerably stranger - it was a large green and white pyramid, with four legs attached to it, one on each side of the base. In each of the four legs was a large wind-up key, which powered the machinery inside of the robot, which in turn was keeping the whole machine afloat.

" **Wind-Up Zenmaister** gains 300 ATK for each material attached to it."

 **Wind-Up Zenmaister:** ATK 1900 » 2200

"Now, attack **Castel, the Skyblaster Musketeer**!"

Zenmaister flew to Redox's field, grabbed the helpless bird with one of its oversized hands, then, unable to think of a better way to attack, violently threw it towards the other side of the cave.

 **Redox:** LP 1700 » 1500

"And finally, **The Phantom Knights of Cursed Javelin** attacks directly!"

Cursed Javelin hadn't even started preparing for its attack, but Redox was already down on her knees, and had given in to her fate.

"Thank you," she whispered.

 **Redox:** LP 1500 » 0

She was surrounded by a large sphere made out of light before the duel was even officially over. Her dragon's silhouette appeared alongside Redox, and unleashed one final roar to the heavens before disappearing into the depths. Much like the last two times, the cave started crumbling immediately after its guardian perished, so Emilia grabbed the card they left behind as quickly as she could, and made a run for it. Once she left the cave and entered the puzzle area, she looked around for Michael to see if he was still passed out somewhere. She looked around frantically, but he was nowhere to be found. She had no idea whether he had already left, or if she just couldn't see him, but the rubble continued falling, and she decided sticking around for any longer would be dangerous. Unsure of how she'd react if Michael wasn't at the surface, she ran for the exit to the cave, knowing that she did everything she could've done. Many thoughts were running through her head, and her brain struggled to process everything that happened in the last half an hour or so. She broke through into the sunlight, where a small crowd was eagerly awaiting her exit.

"Do you have–" Ethan started asking, but Emilia just handed him the card, then proceeded to ignore him.

"You're such an idiot," she walked up to Michael.

"I know, but what does that have to do with–"

"For a second, I thought you were stuck down there!"

"And?"

"What do you mean and!?"

"I thought I wasn't your responsibility," Michael grinned. "Besides, I woke up midway through your duel and I didn't feel like interrupting."

"You're a…" Emilia paused, not sure of how to end that sentence. She took off the duel disk, gave it back to Michael, and then stormed off. "You're an idiot."

"Should've seen that coming, honestly," Michael mumbled, and started walking down the same path as Emilia, a path that would lead them out of the forest. The rest of the group followed.

"When's the plane back leaving?" Michael asked.

"Four hours," Ethan replied. "You should have just enough time to rest for a bit once we get back to the hotel, before you have to start packing."

"Time's the last thing I need right now."

* * *

Michael was so focused on what was happening outside the window, entranced by the pulsating lights of the city below, surrounded by a barely noticeable mist, that he failed to realize that they were getting ready to land. Although not particularly tired, he remained seated for a minute or two after the landing, all while Emilia made certain she was the first to up and leave the plane. Michael, on the other hand, was in no rush to get anywhere, and took his time to check when their next mission was. Ethan shrugged in response to the question, stating only that he needs to check the details with his higher-ups. Once that brief exchange was over, Michael got ready to leave. Once he was out of the plane, Emilia was already nowhere to be found.

"I think you two should–" Ethan started saying.

"Let me stop you right there," Michael said. "Is the two of us being on good terms imperative to the task at hand?"

"Well no, but–"

"Then be quiet."

"Well, then," Ethan said. "What if I did insist on you two making up?"

"I guess I'd try talking to her if that were the case," Michael shrugged. "But she doesn't care about me, so why should I value her opinion of me any more? And besides, what's any of this got to do with you? This is the first thing you've said to me that wasn't either ordering me around or completely pointless small talk."

"I'd be lying if I said this didn't bother me a bit," Ethan admitted.

"Why does it, though?"

"I don't know, empathy," Ethan mumbled. "I know I'm just another suit to you, but I do actually–"

"Spare me the speech."

"Anyways, you two seemed like you were getting along fine, which is why this just doesn't feel right."

"You really are detached from reality, aren't you?"

"What?"

"That's about the only explanation for what you said that makes sense to me, because I have no idea where the impression that we were on good terms came from," Michael said, as they slowly made their way to the airport's entrance, with their respective bodyguards trailing behind them. "Because you've either not been paying attention for the last month, or you're a complete idiot."

"I just thought–" Ethan whimpered, but Michael didn't give him a chance to defend himself.

"About the only thing we have in common is our mutual dislike of _you_ ," the tone of his voice got gradually higher. "So shut up, and spare me your talks of empathy, you hack, because at no point since I met you did I get the impression that you care for anyone but yourself. Of course you're just another suit to the two of us, because you damn well aren't a person! You're just someone Tetra sent along so they could keep an eye on us!"

"Why are you attacking me all of a sudden? What have I done to you?" Ethan decided to fight back, a bit more vigorously this time, but Michael was having none of it.

"You haven't done anything, that's the problem. Of course everything would seem fine to you, because you've done _nothing_ in the past month apart from tell us what to do, then sitting back and hoping for a job well done," he continued. "Everything seemed fine because you didn't care about us, so do me a favour and go back to that, because anything else just makes you seem more pathetic than you already were."

At some point, halfway through his rant, they had entered the airport. Michael grabbed his luggage, and hurriedly headed for the exit, wishing that he wouldn't have to talk to Ethan, or anyone associated with Tetra for that matter, in the foreseeable future. His wishes weren't fulfilled.

"Do you want me to get someone to drive you back?" Ethan asked. "It's a long walk back."

Michael silently rejected his offer, and kept on walking, before disappearing completely into the night.

* * *

Olivia was woken up by her incessant, never-ending ringtone. Unwilling to move, she moved her hand around her nightstand, hoping to accidentally stumble upon her phone. Once she finally managed to grab it, she brought it closer to her face to see who was calling her in the dead of morning, but was immediately forced to squint due to the bright screen's ruthless attack on her eyes. She answered the call, turned on the speaker, and propped it up against the bed frame, all so she didn't need to hold the device herself.

"What do you want, Em?"

"Are you awake?"

"I answered your call," Olivia said, trying her hardest to hold back a yawn. "What do you think?"

A short pause ensued, as Emilia stopped talking to listen to the next station announcement, while Olivia finally let out the dreaded yawn she'd been holding in.

"Why are you even calling this early?"

"I'll be home in around an hour, so I needed someone to unlock the door."

"And you couldn't have called in an hour?"

"Well I thought it'd take a couple of tries to get you to pick up, so I figured I'd try and get an early start."

"Even I'm surprised that I managed to wake up," Olivia admitted. "Though, now there's the risk of me falling asleep again before you get home."

"Just go downstairs and sit in dad's couch or something," Emilia said. "Even if you fall asleep, you'll probably hear the doorbell."

"Yeah, it'll _probably_ work. Some advice you've given me."

"Look, I'm in no mood to be dealing with you right now."

"Well _I'm_ in no mood to be up at four in the morning, but that's just how life goes sometimes," Olivia said. "And if you can't be bothered to deal with me right now, then I'll just go back to sleep."

"Wait a sec–"

Olivia hung up, causing her phone to be dislodged from its stable position, and fall down onto the sheets. She stared at the darkness above her in silence, trying her hardest not to close her eyes, as she knew another call was coming. About half a minute later, the phone started ringing again.

"Stop annoying me and go downstairs," Emilia said as soon as she picked up.

"No," Olivia replied, and then hung up again. She giggled for no real reason, and started getting out of bed. Her attempts at putting on her slippers were made all the more difficult by the fact that she became dizzy from standing up too suddenly. She started making her way downstairs. Before she did that, she put her phone on silent, and left it on the bed.

She stumbled over to the bathroom, but her visit was very brief. She put her face under the shower head, let cold water flow over her for a short while in hopes that it would wake her up, then exited the bathroom without even drying herself. She made her way downstairs, having to constantly hold on to the railing, as the dizziness would not subside. Once she left the horrifyingly angled realm of the stairs, and landed back on solid ground, which was luckily flat, she walked to the living room. Instead of sitting in her dad's sofa, as Emilia suggested, she instead chose to lay down on the couch that was usually reserved for guests. Perhaps predictably, she fell asleep not long after.

She was woken up a second time roughly an hour later, again by something ringing. This time, however, it was the doorbell rather than her phone. She got up, though not without issues, and walked over to the door to let Emilia in.

"I knew you'd fall asleep again," she said.

"Yeah, so did I," Olivia replied.

"Whatever, I just need to get some sleep."

"Yeah, so do I."

Since she had barely enough energy left to climb up the stairs, Emilia lobbed her luggage onto the floor, and started beelining for her bedroom, and Olivia followed her.

"Oh yeah, one more thing," she said, and suddenly stopped mid-walk, causing her sister to run into her, nearly undoing all the progress she had made in her attempts to scale the stairs.

"Are you still free until the end of the month?"

"Is this regarding that plan of yours?" Olivia asked, surprised she even remembered Emilia's proposal from a few days ago.

"Yeah," Emilia mumbled. "Are you still up for that?"

"Anything I can do to screw over Tetra," Olivia replied. "Now go the hell to sleep or I'll do it for you."


End file.
